For better or worse, video calls have become an integral part of our lives. Whether you're chatting with a loved one who's oceans away, or collaborating with teammates across timezones, sitting in front of a webcam or holding up your phone is an inescapable reality. That's why many companies have developed products meant to make video calls feel more natural — like NVIDIA's Broadcast tool to make it look like you're maintaining eye contact even if you aren't and Google's experimental 3D telepresence or holographic booths. But Logitech is introducing something that uses dead simple technology to make video chats more like the real-world experience. The company announced Project Ghost in January, and recently invited us to check out a functioning version in New York.The premise is straightforward. Instead of futzing around with holograms or algorithms that make your pupils look like you're staring at a camera, Logitech simply embedded its existing Rally Plus video conferencing system into a booth it teamed up with furniture maker Steelcase to create. The result is a booth that's like a larger business class seat (but not quite first class), with walls about 5 feet 10 inches tall. Light brown wooden slats line the exterior, matching the panels inside. On one side sits a hollow wall that's almost two feet thick, with a screen inside it and a mirror below that, placed at a perpendicular angle. Facing the TV is a light pink couch, a side table with a touchscreen control panel on it and some green plants behind that.With its warm colors, soft curves, pink couch and greenery, the booth felt very inviting. I quickly collapsed onto the sofa and was slightly surprised to see a woman staring back at me. She appeared life-sized and it felt as if our eyes met, even though she was sitting in a similar booth all the way in Boston. Since the camera is embedded behind the display, it was easy for me to peer into her face and on the other end of the call it would look like I was staring right at her.Though Logitech executives at the demo told me the video quality was capped at 1080p and was more likely streaming at 720p or lower, I initially thought the woman I was calling was rendered in 4K. But the clarity and realism that I had assumed was a result of high resolution was more likely because I wasn't used to talking to someone on such a large screen. Normally, I take my calls on a 13-inch laptop, and even when I'm in a meeting room with my colleagues' faces plastered on a 40-inch TV, I didn't get the sense that they were right in front of me.The only time I felt like there was some distortion was when I heard feedback of my voice during parts of the demo. I couldn't tell where the speakers and mics were embedded in the space, so I didn't get to adjust or learn how to move to avoid the echoes. But for the most part, the meeting was smooth, and when the company's executives finally left the space for me to be alone with the caller, I was able to relax. Though I was only looking at the person's upper body, I was able to note small changes in body language like posture. It's not a perfect replacement for a real-world conversation, but possibly because I wasn't on my laptop, I was a lot more focused than I normally am on calls.Much of that sense of realism and privacy might have to do with the setup of the booth. Behind the couch is a black wall, while above the TV box is a horizontal light with a filtered effect, and together they make the caller look well lit and in focus. The fact that both me and the person I'm talking to are staring at our upper bodies and heads with nothing else in the background removes any distraction.LogitechOf course, you could achieve something similar by investing in a tripod, a backdrop, a dedicated camera and spend a lot less money, but this product isn't meant for the average consumer. Logitech said it received a lot of interest from companies wanting to order the booths for their office spaces, and that it was looking into iterating on the design to make them more suitable for different scenarios.In addition to bigger setups for multiple people (the current couch is designed for one person), Logitech said it could also come up with something people could buy for home use. I could see Ghost being incredibly useful for calls with my therapist, telehealth appointments or even just as a dedicated livestreaming station. But considering Logitech estimates selling each unit for about $15,000 to $20,000 depending on the size or style, this is probably something I can only look at in envy. If you have that sort of money to spare, the company said it would be ready to sell these in the fall.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/logitech-made-googles-project-starline-video-conferencing-booth--minus-holograms-163058592.html?src=rss
Amazon has announced it's making over 100 Prime Video original series and movies available on Freevee, its free streaming service. It seems to be a natural part of the lifespan for exclusive video content these days: In April, HBO and Warner Brothers made a bunch of their shows available for free on Roku, some of which originally aired on TV.The full list of Prime original content expanding to Freevee isn't available yet, but titles will include The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Wheel of Time, Late Night, Troop Zero and Reacher. The 100-plus titles won't all arrive at once, as Amazon reports that new series and movies will become available on Freevee throughout the year.It appears that Amazon is dedicated to using Freevee to capture the free-streaming market. Last year, it rebranded IMDB TV into Freevee in a move it said reflected the streaming service's free access — other names reportedly in consideration included "Zon" and "Free TV." Ads are likely a small inconvenience for many people when Amazon Prime starts at $14.99 a month or $139 a year for individuals. You can access Freevee through Amazon and its Fire TV stick or as an independent app on iOS, Android, Xbox, most smart TVs and other systems.Freevee already produces a range of original content, like America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation and Judy Justice. The streamer also offers titles outside the Amazon production family, including Schitt's Creek, John Wick and Bones.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-is-making-over-100-prime-video-originals-available-for-free-160032958.html?src=rss
One of the pioneers of artificial intelligence has made a high-profile exit. Geoffrey Hinton, nicknamed the "godfather of AI," tellsThe New York Times he resigned as Google VP and engineering fellow in April to freely warn of the risks associated with the technology. The researcher is concerned that Google is giving up its previous restraint on public AI releases in a bid to compete with ChatGPT, Bing Chat and similar models, opening the door to multiple ethical problems.In the near term, Hinton is worried that generative AI could lead to a wave of misinformation. You might "not be able to know what is true anymore," he says. He's also concerned it might not just eliminate "drudge work," but outright replace some jobs. Going forward, the scientist is concerned about both the possibility of fully autonomous weapons and the tendency of AI models to learn odd behavior from training data. While some of these issues are theoretical, Hinton fears an escalation that won't be checked without regulations or the development of effective controls.Hinton says his stance began changing last year, when Google, OpenAI and others began creating AI systems that he believes are sometimes superior to human intelligence. AI has developed rapidly in just the past five years — it's "scary" what could happen in the next five, the researcher suggests.In a statement to Engadget, Google's chief scientist Jeff Dean says his firm is still dedicated to a "responsible approach" and on guard for "emerging risks." The search giant recently released a rough version of its Bard chatbot in March following months of rumors the company is worried about the competitive threat of generative AI. Before then, it refused to publicly release AI models like its art-oriented Imagen over the potential for toxic content and copyright violations.Hinton has devoted his career to studying the neural networks that are often key to AI, but is best known for developing an object recognition system in 2012. His breakthrough neural net could use training images to help recognize common objects. Google bought Hinton's DNNresearch startup in 2013, and the underlying concept of his invention helped foster a surge of development that led to today's generative tech.Hinton isn't alone. A number of influential academics and tech luminaries, including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, recently signed an open letter calling for a six-month pause on AI development to address ethical and safety problems. As one of the most prominent figures in the industry, though, Hinton's word carries significant weight.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/godfather-of-ai-leaves-google-amid-ethical-concerns-152451800.html?src=rss
Air fryers are all the rage and those who've been on the fence about adding one to their kitchen might be interested in checking out a deal on a model from Ninja. The 10-quart DZ550 DualZone, which Ninja released last year, has dropped to $200 at Amazon. That's $50 off the regular price. While it's not the lowest price we've seen for this model, this might be the biggest discount that you'll find for a while.This is a more recent version of one of our favorite air fryers, Ninja's DZ401. The main upgrade is the addition of an integrated food thermometer. This should help you monitor the internal temperatures of foods, especially proteins, with more accuracy.As with other dual-zone fryers, the DZ550 has two independent, nonstick baskets, allowing you to cook two foods simultaneously, such as a main and a side. You can have different settings for each basket or match the settings across both — a handy option if you're cooking two batches of the same thing. The Smart Finish feature, meanwhile, is designed to make sure the food in each basket is ready at the same time.The DZ550 has six functions: air frying, air broiling, roasting, baking, reheating and dehydrating. There's also a wide temperature range that runs from 105 to 450 degrees. Additionally, Ninja claims its air fryer can cook food faster than a traditional oven. It says the DZ550 can cook two six-pound chickens 30 percent faster than a regular oven and make frozen food crispy in 30 minutes.You'll need to set aside plenty of counter space for the DZ550: it's 17 inches wide and 14 inches deep. It weighs just under 20 pounds as well. Still, if you have the room for the DZ550, it could prove a helpful addition to your kitchen, and the lower price makes it that much more appealing.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ninjas-updated-dualzone-air-fryer-is-50-off-right-now-144531253.html?src=rss
You don't have to buy a whole new router if your existing WiFi network coverage isn't quite cutting it. Amazon is running a sale on TP-Link WiFi extenders. The steepest discount is on the WiFi 6-based RE500X, which now sells for $55 (39 percent off), but you can also buy our favorite budget extender, the WiFi 5-capable RE315, for just $32 (normally $50). That's the best price we've seen for the entry model all year, and makes it an easy choice if you're comfortable with your existing router's peak speed.All of the WiFi extenders add up to 1,500 square feet of additional coverage. That's enough to make your network usable in the basement, a far-off bedroom or the backyard. They support OneMesh networking to easily grow your network if you have a compatible TP-Link router. And if you need a physical link (such as for a console or printer), they include Ethernet jacks to either plug in wired devices or create a wireless access point.Your main concern may be future-proofing. The WiFi 6 models including the RE600X, now at $68) may be a better long-term value if you expect to upgrade to the more recent wireless standard in the near future. You won't have to replace your extender if you buy a more advanced router. And if you're looking to upgrade your overall performance, you may want to consider a WiFi 6E system instead. For many people, though, TP-Link's offerings are an affordable way to boost signal quality.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tp-link-wifi-extenders-are-up-to-39-percent-off-at-amazon-133050880.html?src=rss
In a Twitter audio chat on Saturday, SpaceX's founder, Elon Musk, shared more details about what went awry during the first fully integrated Starship rocket and Super Heavy booster launch in April. One of the biggest revelations: The self-destruct setting took 40 seconds to work — a seemingly short time, except when you're uncertain if the massive rocket you just launched will blow up before hitting land. To recap the day's events, the rocket and booster cleared the launch pad before being unable to separate from each other, flipping and, finally, blowing up. The automated command should have immediately caused an explosion, but tumbled around for a bit first, The New York Times reported.In one of many spins on the day's failures, Musk claimed it was because "the vehicle’s structural margins appear to be better than we expected." While SpaceX previously said the only goal was that initial takeoff, a lot clearly went wrong.The delayed self-destruction wasn't the only issue following the launch from SpaceX's facility in Boca Chica, Texas. After the eventual explosion, debris fell across about 385 acres of land made up of the SpaceX facility and Boca Chica State Park. The latter resulted in a 3.5-acre fire. Musk's response? "To the best of our knowledge there has not been any meaningful damage to the environment that we’re aware of."The FAA has already announced it's investigating the events and will ground Starship until "determining that any system, process or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety." Even with all of that, Musk went so far as to call the launch "successful" and "maybe slightly exceeding my expectations."In this case, success was clearing the launch pad and, apparently, learning lessons along the way. "The goal of these missions is just information," Musk said. "Like, we don’t have any payload or anything — it’s just to learn as much as possible."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spacexs-starship-didnt-immediately-respond-to-a-self-destruct-command-120010127.html?src=rss
After more than three years of litigation, Apple has quietly dropped its lawsuit against Gerard Williams III, a former chip executive the company accused of poaching employees. After over a decade at the company, in 2019, Williams left Apple to co-found Nuvia, a chip design firm later acquired by Qualcomm in 2021. When the tech giant first sued Williams, it accused him of “secretly” starting Nuvia and recruiting talent for his startup while he was still an Apple employee. Williams disputed Apple’s claims and accused the company of spying on his text messages. The case was dismissed, mired in a lot of legalese and multiple court documents.Apple requested to dismiss the suit against Williams earlier this week. The request does not state the company’s reason for dropping the case, but in March, Apple wanted the recusal of Judge Sunil Kulkarni, because its legal team added lawyers from a company that Judge Kulkarni had previously worked at. So, conflicts of interest, initiated by Apple recruiting more legal firepower. Apple and Qualcomm, Williams' current employer, did not immediately respond to Engadget's request for comment.– Mat SmithThe Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.The biggest stories you might have missedOnePlus Pad review: Solid hardware let down by Android Elon Musk says Twitter will introduce per-article charging in May Hitting the Books: Who's excited to have their brainwaves scanned as a personal ID?The best free games for 2023The best power banks for 2023Brazil lifts nationwide Telegram banThe company still has to pay a daily fine.On Saturday, a federal appeals court in Brazil lifted the country-wide ban on messaging app Telegram. Brazilian authorities wanted the app suspended after Telegram failed to hand over a full set of data on a pair of neo-Nazi groups on the app accused of inciting violence against schools. According to Reuters, judge Flávio Lucas ruled that a complete suspension of the messaging app was “unreasonable” given that thousands of people in Brazil rely on the platform. At the same time, he upheld the daily $200,000 fine on Telegram for failing to provide local authorities with the data they requested. This isn’t the first time Telegram has been briefly banned in Brazil. In 2022, the country’s highest court suspended the app for failing to freeze accounts accused of spreading disinformation ahead of the country’s recent presidential election. Similarly, that ban was lifted just days later.Continue reading.Sony WH-CH720N headphones reviewBudget-friendly headphones with premium sound.EngadgetOn paper, the 2023 edition of Sony’s midrange headphones should continue the company’s reputation for solid headphones – and a viable alternative to the pricey flagship WH-1000XM5. The WH-CH720N has the same V1 chip as the M5, which powers both active noise cancellation (ANC) and overall sound quality. There’s also an updated design and a lower price ($130), following another early cut. The noise cancellation does a decent job, but it’s not the best, and you’ll have to make do without automatic pausing. Still, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better option at this price.Continue reading.Watch the trailer for the latest video-game adaptation: ‘Twisted Metal’What, you don’t remember the 1995 PlayStation game?After those sweet Super Mario Bros. Movie box office numbers, more companies want a piece. Streaming service Peacock is joining the video game adaptation wars with a live-action comedy based on the PS1-era vehicular warfare simulator Twisted Metal, and it just dropped the first trailer. The franchise arguably reached its pinnacle in 1996 with Twisted Metal 2, but when have clowns and car explosions not been cool?Continue reading.‘Vampire Survivors’ is getting an animated television seriesThere wasn’t much plot to the game, but hey, look at ‘Twisted Metal.’Vampire SurvivorsYes, the addictive hit game Vampire Survivors is getting the animated TV show treatment.. Developer Luca Galante said in a (hopefully) cheeky tone, “The most important thing in Vampire Survivors is the story.” (Note: There really isn’t much of one.) Media company Story Kitchen will partner with Galante (founder of developer poncle), to make the series.Continue reading.Razer Blade 16 laptop reviewA miraculous display in a laptop you can skip.EngadgetThe Razer Blade 16 is one of the most unique laptops we’ve ever seen. It can handle 4K gaming just as well as high-speed 1080p gameplay, thanks to a dual-mode screen. And it’s one of the fastest notebooks around, featuring Intel’s latest CPUs and NVIDIA’s newest GPUs. And notably, it can be configured with an RTX 4090. But it’s noticeably heavier than the Blade 15, and you’ll have to pay at least $3,300 to own one with the dual-mode display. It’s an additional cost that Razer devices didn’t need.Continue reading.Walmart's suppliers would rather negotiate with AI than a humanThe chatbot is even helping Walmart save money.Walmart is using a chatbot from Pactum AI to automatically negotiate some of its supplier deals. The technology saves an average of three percent on contracts and is even preferable to the vendors. Walmart says three out of four suppliers prefer haggling with the AI over a human. Pactum's system simply asks Walmart to set its budget and requirements, such as discounts and payment terms. It compares a supplier's demands with trends, commodity values and competitors' costs. After that, the AI can strike a deal in a matter of days, rather than the weeks or months of conventional talks.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-apple-drops-lawsuit-against-former-exec-who-accused-the-company-of-spying-111833313.html?src=rss
Over nine million people watched The Super Mario Bros. Movie over the weekend — on Twitter, The Verge reported. On Friday, a Twitter user uploaded the entire movie to the platform, and it remained there, openly violating copyright laws, until Sunday. The movie was removed and the user suspended from Twitter — again, shy of ten million people already seeing it.Sure, copyrighted movies have repeatedly spent a few days on Twitter since Elon Musk took over (firing most your safety and compliance staff will do that for you). But, previous posts, like The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift or Avatar, were shared in two minute increments across lengthy threads. The Super Mario Bros. Movie required only two posts, one with the first hour of the movie and another with the final 32 minutes.Why hasn’t this happened before now? Well, Twitter Blue subscribers can upload videos up to 60 minutes long. It's only available on Twitter’s website though, with app users limited to 10-minute videos.Regardless of mainstream illegal streaming, The Super Mario Bros. Movie has crushed at the box office, making over $1 billion globally, and holding the number one spot four weekends in a row across the US and Canada. If it has come and gone in your area, don't worry, it will probably be back on Twitter soon.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/someone-posted-entire-super-mario-100017148.html?src=rss
ARM has registered for a US stock market listing. In a press release published Saturday, the mobile chip company said it recently confidentially submitted a draft F-1 form to the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to Reuters, ARM hopes to raise between $8 billion and $10 billion dollars when it holds the initial public offering later this year, though over the weekend the company said it had yet to determine the size and price range of the proposed IPO.ARM parent company SoftBank has been eyeing a public listing ever since NVIDIA’s $40 billion bid to buy the chip maker fell through at the start of last year due to regulatory resistance from the US Federal Trade Commission and other antitrust watchdogs. In March, SoftBank said it would list ARM on the US stock market after rebuffing a push for a London listing from the United Kingdom government. ARM designs the processor components used in almost every mobile device, including models from Apple and Samsung. Its licensing model means nearly every tech company depends on ARM designs. According to a recent Financial Times report, the company recently began work on a prototype chip that is “more advanced” than any semiconductor produced in the past.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/arm-registers-for-us-initial-public-offering-201942271.html?src=rss
A federal appeals court in Brazil on Saturday lifted the country-wide ban that had been put in place against Telegram earlier this week. Per Reuters, judge Flávio Lucas ruled a complete suspension of the messaging app was “not reasonable” given that thousands of people in Brazil who rely on the platform for their communication needs. At the same time, he upheld the daily $200,000 fine on Telegram for failing to provide local authorities with the data they requested.The original ban came on Wednesday after a federal court instructed Apple and Google to temporarily remove the service from their domestic app stores. Brazilian authorities sought the suspension after Telegram failed to hand over a full set of data on a pair of neo-Nazi groups on the app accused of inciting violence against schools.According to The New York Times, a teenager accused of committing two school shootings in November, which left three dead and 13 people injured, was involved with the two groups. Authorities say they saw Nazi content, violent videos and bomb-making instructions shared in those group chats. When it didn’t comply with the initial court order, Telegram reportedly said the two groups had been deleted and that it couldn’t recover the requested information. Telegram did not immediately respond to Engadget’s comment request.This isn’t the first time Telegram has been briefly banned in Brazil. In 2022, the country’s highest court suspended the app for failing to freeze accounts accused of spreading disinformation ahead of the country’s recent presidential election. Similarly, that ban was lifted just days later.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/brazilian-court-lifts-nationwide-telegram-ban-put-in-place-over-data-demand-183423449.html?src=rss
Apple is reportedly working on its most significant software overhaul to watchOS in recent memory. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company is redesigning the Apple Watch’s user interface to make widgets a “central part” of how you will interact with the wearable. In describing the new UI, Gurman says it brings back elements of the Glances system that was part of the original watchOS while borrowing the “style” of widgets Apple introduced alongside iOS 14 last year.He adds the new interface will be “reminiscent” of the Siri watch face that the company introduced with watchOS 4 in 2017 but will function as an overlay for whatever watch face you wish to use. “It’s also similar to widget stacks,” Gurman adds, referencing the iOS feature that allows you to scroll through widgets you've placed on top of one another.
If you’ve been patiently waiting for a sale on the 5th-generation Echo Dot, now is the time to buy one. A handful of models are on sale. To start, you can get the basic model for $30 or 40 percent off. That’s only $5 more than the Echo Dot’s all-time low price. Moreover, all three colorways – charcoal, deep sea blue and glacier white – are part of the sale. Alternatively, the Echo Dot with Clock is also on sale. Currently, it’s $40 or 33 percent off its usual $60 price. As before, the sale includes all the available colorways.The Echo Dot is one of the least expensive smart speakers out there. That said, you get a lot of value for your money. It offers surprisingly good sound quality while being small enough to fit almost anywhere. The Echo Dot also comes with a 3.5mm audio output, allowing you to connect it to an amp or set of headphones. Of course, it also provides access to Alexa and all the smart home integration you could want. For those reasons, the Echo Dot is one of Engadget’s favorite smart speakers. The Echo Dot with Clock has all the features found on its less expensive sibling but can also show the time, weather and timers. That capability makes it an excellent fit for the kitchen or anywhere you want to keep tabs on the time.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-echo-dot-drops-to-30-150557756.html?src=rss
Twitter might provide publishers with a new way to earn from their content outside of the typical recurring subscription option. According to company chief Elon Musk, Twitter will allow media publishers to charge users for access to individual articles they post on the website as as soon as next month. Users will end up paying a higher per-article price than what the cost of access to every article would amount to if they had a subscription instead. But Musk said it's for those who want to read the occasional story from a specific outlet, so each article probably wouldn't cost as much as a monthly subscription.
After more than three years of litigation, Apple has quietly dropped its lawsuit against Gerard Williams III, the former chip executive the company accused of poaching employees. Williams spent nearly a decade working for Apple, leading development on some of its most important chips – including the A7, the first 64-bit processor for mobile devices.In 2019, Williams left Apple to co-found Nuvia, a chip design firm later acquired by Qualcomm in 2021. When the tech giant first sued Williams, it accused him of “secretly” starting Nuvia and recruiting talent for his startup while he was still an Apple employee. Williams disputed Apple’s claims and accused the company of spying on his text messages.As reported by Bloomberg, Apple filed a request to dismiss the suit against Williams earlier this week. The document does not state the company’s reason for dropping the case. However, it does say Apple did so “with prejudice,” meaning it cannot file the same claim against Williams again. It also suggests the two sides came to a settlement. Apple did not immediately respond to Engadget’s comment request.In the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s dismissal request, court documents show Apple sought the recusal of Judge Sunil Kulkarni. Around March 17th, 2023, the company added two lawyers from the legal firm Morrison and Foerster to the team litigating its case against Williams. On March 28th, Judge Sunil Kulkarni filed a brief disclosing that he had worked at Morrison and Foerster for approximately 13 years and had kept in contact “over the years” with Bryan Wilson and Ken Kuwayti, the two “MoFo” attorneys Apple hired on as counsel earlier in the month.“I have occasional social interactions with them (e.g., bimonthly lunches, seeing them at parties of mutual friends, and so on),” Judge Kulkarni wrote. “I believe I have recused myself from past cases involving Mr. Wilson and/or Mr. Kuwayti, but solely as a prophylactic measure.” After learning of the involvement of his former colleagues, Judge Kulkarni held an “informal” meeting with the two sides where he said he was “leaning toward recusal” if Apple retained the counsel of either Wilson or Kuwayti. In that same meeting, Kulkarni says he told Apple and Williams his recusal from the case would likely mean a delay in the case going to trial. Before the meeting, the case was scheduled to go to trial on October 2nd, 2023.In a brief filed on April 6th, Williams and his legal team came out strongly against the idea of Judge Kulkarni removing himself from the case, arguing Apple’s position on the subject “should not matter” and that the move had the potential to be “prejudicial” against the former exec.“Given that this case has been pending for over three years – with a fast-approaching discovery deadline and trial date – and given the Court’s familiarity with the parties, the case history, and the applicable law, the Court’s recusal decision has the potential to be prejudicial and disruptive,” the brief states. It then argues it was Apple that introduced a potential conflict of interest to the case.“Even if a conflict existed that might warrant recusal, the procedure imposed by the Court – allowing the party that introduced the ‘conflict’ and would theoretically stand to benefit from it – to decide whether to waive it is inconsistent with basic rules of fairness and due process,” the brief concludes. “Such a procedure would set a dangerous precedent for judge shopping in the middle of a case: any part, at any time, could recruit former colleagues of a sitting judge and then force his or her recusal.”Putting together what happened after that point is more difficult. However, after the 6th, the court in Santa Clara held multiple hearings where no one from either side appeared. Apple then filed to dismiss the case on April 26th. Qualcomm, Williams' current employer, did not immediately respond to Engadget's request for comment.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-drops-lawsuit-against-former-exec-who-accused-company-of-spying-211547595.html?src=rss
With Google I/O less than two weeks away, the Pixel leaks are starting to come hard and fast. On Friday, leaker (and former Engadget editor) Evan Blass shared (via The Verge) two 4K renders of the Pixel Fold. The images almost certainly originally came from Google, so they offer our best look at the device yet.Unfortunately, Blass didn’t post an image of the front of the foldable, so, for at least the time being, we can’t compare the renders against the alleged video of the Pixel Fold that leaker Kuba Wojciechowski uploaded on April 21st. What’s more, the one render of the Fold’s back cover doesn’t give a sense of how pronounced the camera bump is. However, they do show a device that looks sleeker than the one we’ve seen leak before.Evan BlassThe Pixel Fold will reportedly cost $1,700 when it arrives later this year. According to a recent CNBC report, the device will feature a 7.6-inch foldable display and a 5.8-inch external screen. It will also supposedly sport the “most durable hinge” on any foldable device to date. Judging from the images Blass shared, there may be some merit to that claim.Separately, Blass shared an image of the Pixel 7a in a striking coral colorway. Google is expected to offer its next midrange device in three other colors — blue, black and white — and the device could cost $50 more than its predecessor. With Google I/O set for May 10th, expect to learn more about the Pixel Fold and Pixel 7a soon.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/leaked-google-pixel-fold-images-show-a-sleek-nearly-gapless-hinge-160537647.html?src=rss
More media outlets are using AI to write articles, if not as aggressively as others. VentureBeat editorial director Michale Nuñez tellsBloomberg his publication is using Microsoft's Bing Chat to help edit and write stories. Reporters are encouraged to slip AI-written "sentences and fragments" into articles so long as they're accurate and independently verifiable.The OpenAI-powered tech is akin to having "another person on the team," Nuñez says. It theoretically summarizes content in seconds instead of hours. VentureBeat doesn't disclose the use of AI content provided it's limited and authentic, but also doesn't intend to create whole articles using the technology.Word surfaced in January that CNET had been using AI to produce entire financial explainer articles since November. Although characterized as a trial, over half of the articles required at least minor corrections. Some effectively plagiarized their sources. It also wasn't clear that algorithms had produced the pieces.Generative AI like Bing Chat, ChatGPT and Google Bard has become increasingly popular as a creative tool, for search results and even for entertainment. However, there are ethical concerns that include plagiarism, basic accuracy and cheating. There are also questions of trust — should creators disclose uses of AI, even if it's minor and undetectable? While the broader news industry isn't expected to completely replace human writers, there are worries AI might be used to reduce the need for real people.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/venturebeat-is-the-latest-publication-to-use-ai-in-its-articles-202514471.html?src=rss
Paypal-owned money transfer service Venmo dipped its toes into cryptocurrencies in 2021 after opening up an in-app trading platform. That was just for individuals to buy or sell crypto. Now, the company is going further into the once-heralded digital currency space by allowing users to send crypto directly to other Venmo customers.This looks to be Venmo’s attempt to simplify the often-confusing task of sending crypto to other people. To that end, the company says this feat is easily accomplished in a “few simple steps.” Just head to the Crypto tab, tap the transfer arrow and follow the prompts. Venmo’s new platform also lets you send currency to Paypal handles and any external crypto wallet. You can also tap Receive to display a QR code that’s embedded with your unique crypto address.This does seem much easier than rival platforms, but this is crypto, so there is a major caveat. These transfers are not protected in any way, shape or form. They cannot be canceled or reversed, so triple-check the Venmo handle or wallet address before slapping that send button. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.More details on the actual transfer process are found here and Venmo says the update will begin rolling out to users in the next week, but this is a tiered update, so it could be until the end of May before everyone has access to the feature. This tool will not be available in Hawaii and New York and it only pertains to cryptocurrencies available for purchase on Venmo, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash.Despite the public’s love affair with crypto starting to cool down, Venmo says that its trading platform has seen steady growth. It boasts that nearly 75 percent of crypto customers have held onto their funds since 2021 and that 50 percent have expanded their balance since the beginning of 2023.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/venmo-now-lets-you-send-crypto-to-other-users-for-some-reason-192015694.html?src=rss
Bipartisan US lawmakers from both chambers of Congress introduced legislation this week that would formally prohibit AI from launching nuclear weapons. Although Department of Defense policy already states that a human must be “in the loop” for such critical decisions, the new bill — the Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act — would codify that policy, preventing the use of federal funds for an automated nuclear launch without “meaningful human control.”Aiming to protect “future generations from potentially devastating consequences,” the bill was introduced by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Representatives Ted Lieu (D-MA), Don Beyer (D-VA) and Ken Buck (R-CO). Senate co-sponsors include Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). “As we live in an increasingly digital age, we need to ensure that humans hold the power alone to command, control, and launch nuclear weapons – not robots,” said Markey. “That is why I am proud to introduce the Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act. We need to keep humans in the loop on making life or death decisions to use deadly force, especially for our most dangerous weapons.”Artificial intelligence chatbots (like the ever-popular ChatGPT, the more advanced GPT-4 and Google Bard), image generators and voice cloners have taken the world by storm in recent months. (Republicans are already using AI-generated images in political attack ads.) Various experts have voiced concerns that, if left unregulated, humanity could face grave consequences. “Lawmakers are often too slow to adapt to the rapidly changing technological environment,” Cason Schmit, Assistant Professor of Public Health at Texas A&M University, toldThe Conversation earlier this month. Although the federal government hasn’t passed any AI-based legislation since the proliferation of AI chatbots, a group of tech leaders and AI experts signed a letter in March requesting an “immediate” six-month pause on developing AI systems beyond GPT-4. Additionally, the Biden administration recently opened comments seeking public feedback about possible AI regulations.“While we all try to grapple with the pace at which AI is accelerating, the future of AI and its role in society remains unclear,” said Rep. Lieu. “It is our job as Members of Congress to have responsible foresight when it comes to protecting future generations from potentially devastating consequences. That’s why I’m pleased to introduce the bipartisan, bicameral Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous AI Act, which will ensure that no matter what happens in the future, a human being has control over the employment of a nuclear weapon – not a robot. AI can never be a substitute for human judgment when it comes to launching nuclear weapons.”Given the current political climate in Washington, passing even the most common-sense of bills isn’t guaranteed. Nevertheless, perhaps a proposal as fundamental as “don’t let computers decide to obliterate humanity” will serve as a litmus test for how prepared the US government is to deal with this quickly evolving technology.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/us-lawmakers-introduce-bill-to-prevent-ai-controlled-nuclear-launches-184727260.html?src=rss
After decades of middling results, video game adaptations are finally the hottest thing in entertainment, especially after those Super Mario Bros. Movie box office numbers. Streamer Peacock is joining the video game adaptation wars with a live action comedy based on the PS1-era vehicular warfare simulator Twisted Metal and it just dropped the first trailer.For the uninitiated (anyone under 30), Twisted Metal was a hugely popular franchise that is sort of a riff on the Battle Mode from the Mario Kart series, with a heavy emphasis on comical violence and absolute destruction. Think Rocket League with guns. The show seems to be scrapping the arena-based nature of the games with a journey across a post-apocalyptic wasteland.The series stars the newly-appointed Captain America, Anthony Mackie and Brooklyn 99 standout Stephanie Beatriz. You can’t tell much from the apocalypse-soaked trailer, but the show’s description describes Mackie as a “motor-mouthed outsider offered a chance at a better life” and Beatriz as a “badass axe-wielding car thief.” It also wouldn’t be Twisted Metal without the iconic killer clown Sweet Tooth, described here as a “deranged clown who drives an all too familiar ice cream truck.”The franchise arguably reached its pinnacle in 1996 with Twisted Metal 2, and there hasn’t been a new release in over a decade, so who exactly is this show for? Who knows! But it has evil clowns and explosive car chases, so who cares? The first season premieres July 27th and consists of ten episodes.This is just another step in Sony’s plans to bring its big gaming franchises into other media, which has so far included the plodding Uncharted movie and the mega-popular The Last of Us series on HBO. Prepare for an onslaught of PlayStation adaptations in the near future, including Horizon Zero Dawn, Gran Turismo and God of War.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/peacock-drops-first-trailer-for-high-octane-twisted-metal-adaptation-181201055.html?src=rss
Two factors had an effect on the deals we saw this week: spring sales and early Mother's Day promotions. Even if you don't need a gift for a mom or it's still cold (or weirdly summery hot) where you are, you can snag a decent price on some of our recommended tech. Like our top budget robot vacuum, iRobot's Roomba 694, which dropped back down to $179. Apple's only sub-$1,000 laptop, the MacBook Air M1, is $200 off at Best Buy only. We also saw a few deals on gadgets we like for the kitchen, like our favorite air fryer and a Vitamix blender. Both the latest and previous generation standard iPad are on sale, as is the older, but still-great M1 MacBook Air. And our favorite ereader, Kobo's Clara 2E is seeing its first discount. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.iRobot Roomba 694If you want a good vac that will clean your floors without much fuss (or requiring much money) we suggest iRobot's Roomba 694. It's usually goes for $275 but right now you can get it for $180 at both Amazon and directly from iRobot's site. The bot has dropped to this price a number of times before, and is just $5 more than the all-time low. Our senior commerce editor, Valentina Palladino, named the 694 the best budget vacuum in our guide because it has an easy-to-use app and does a good job of keeping floors clean on a schedule. It doesn't have the advanced mapping and obstacle avoidance features of a more expensive model, and it doesn't self-empty, but for less than $200, it's a relatively affordable way to keep your carpets fresher.iRobot Roomba S9+The Roomba S9+ from iRobot is our pick for the most premium robot vacuum you can buy — and it comes with a premium price. Both Wellbots and Amazon are currently selling the $1,000 vac for $749 or $250 off, which could help if you've got your eye on a top-of-the-line floor cleaner. Valentina thinks its one of the best out there, admiring the attractive, copper-accented design and suction power that's rated to be 40 times more powerful than a standard Roomba. She noticed a deeper clean in her carpets, but noted that the machine was a little louder than others, though not to the point of irritation. It runs for about an hour before needing a recharge at its base and does a decent job of avoiding objects and furniture. That said, it's probably overkill for most people.For a few hundred dollars less, you can go for our favorite mid-range pick, Shark's AI Ultra Robot Vacuum, which is 25 percent off at Amazon. That's not an all-time low, but the discount brings it $450 instead of $600. The runner-up mid-range vac in the same guide, iRobot's Roomba j7 is seeing an even deeper 33 percent discount, making the $600 model $399 instead. Again, not the lowest price we've seen — it's about $50 more than it sold for during the Black Friday sales at the end of last year.MacBook Air M1It's a few years old at this point, but Apple's MacBook Air with the M1 chip is still a capable and relatively budget-friendly laptop. Usually $999, Best Buy is selling the base model for nearly $200 off, or $800. It has fallen to this price numerous times in its two year history, and the deal matches the all-time low. Right now Best Buy seems to be the only major retailer offering the deal — it's just $100 off at Amazon and $130 off at B&H Photo.Our resident Apple laptop expert, Devindra Hardawar gave the MacBook Air M1 a 96 in his review, admiring the speediness of Apple's new in-house silicon and the overall lack of fan noise, since it uses passive cooling instead. This is the base model of the M1 Air, with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage, which is typically the only configuration of a MacBook that you can get for under a grand.Apple iPad (2022)Best Buy is also selling Apple's latest standard iPad with 64GB of storage for $399 or with 256GB for $549. That's a $50 discount on either model and matches the lowest prices the tablets have seen since their debut. Our deputy editor, Nathan Ingraham, gave the 10th generation iPad an 85 in his review, noting that it was an improvement over the previous generation in terms of the design, processing power and cameras. But it has some drawbacks too — like still using the first generation Apple Pencil, not supporting Stage Manager and adding a $120 price jump over its predecessor. Speaking of, that 9th generation iPad happens to be our current recommendation for a budget Apple tablet, and it's on sale for 15 percent off, or $279, at Amazon. That's about $30 more than its all-time low, but still a significant savings over the newer iteration.Kobo Clara 2ELooking at an ereader is easier on your eyes than reading on your phone or tablet. Kobo's Clara 2E earned the top honor in our guide to these devices and is seeing a rare sale on Kobo's site. It's usually $140 but the $20 discount makes it $120. I found the Clara 2E easy to hold, read and navigate. It's got a textured back, a soft and warm front light and quick touch responses. It's more expensive than the base model Kindle, which is $99 for the ad-supported version. However, the budget Kindle doesn't have a warm reading light, isn't waterproof and costs $120 if you don't want ads. Kobo also offers seamless integration with OverDrive so you can borrow ebooks from your local library, and now has a new subscription service for a unlimited reading of selected ebooks for for $8 per month, which helps it compete with the Kindle Unlimited subscription.Fitbit Versa 4Warmer weather might be inspiring you to get more active. If you want a fitness-focused smartwatch to help motivate you, take a look at Amazon's discount on Google's Fitbit Versa 4. The price is down to $160, which is a $40 savings over the list price. It went for $10 cheaper during the shopping holidays last year, but this is the lowest we've seen it since then. The Versa 4 not only offers plenty of health and fitness tracking, it can guide you on a run or bike ride with Google Maps support right on your wrist for Android users (those with iPhones will need to wait until later this spring for that integration). And unlike many smartwatches out there that only get a day or two on a charge, the Versa 4 claims a six-day battery life.Fitbit's Sense 2, which has more sensors to give you all-day stress tracking and ECG heart rate readings, is on sale for $50 off, bringing it down to $250. It's worth noting that neither smartwatch lets you run third party apps, though you can answer calls and texts. A $10-per-month Premium subscription is also required (after the six-month trial) for guided programs, personalized fitness feedback and sleep insights. Yet for just $160 it's an affordable way to get a fitness focused wearable that's a few steps above a simple tracker.Instant Vortex PlusAir fryers can do a lot more than just fry — in fact they don't technically fry anything, instead they cook food using hot, circulating air. The results are both healthier and more energy-efficient than frying. The Instant Vortex Plus is made by the same brand who makes the perennially popular Instant Pot, and is the top pick in our guide to air fryers. Both Amazon and the Instant Brands storefront are selling the 6-quart size for $130, which is a 24 percent discount off its usual $170 and the lowest price we've seen outside of the shopping holidays last year. This one beat out the other models in our testing because it heats up impressively fast, has easy, intuitive controls and does a good job of keeping cooking smells at bay.Ember Mug 2Ember's newest app-connected mug can keep your tea or coffee at your preferred temp for more than an hour on its own, or all day long when you set it on the included charging coaster. Given the price, however, this smart drinkware might be more suited to gifting. In a sale timed for Mother's Day, the 10-ounce and 14-ounce Ember Mug 2 are both $30 off at Ember when you use the code MOMDAY23 at checkout. That makes the smaller mug $100 and the larger one $120. The coupon only applies to the black or white mug — the metal-toned versions are still list price.Samsung Galaxy Watch 5The 40mm Galaxy Watch 5 is back down to $219 at Amazon, Best Buy and directly from Samsung. That's $60 off the list price and matches the all-time low we saw in January of this year. Engadget deputy editor Cherlynn Low gave the wearable an 85 in her review when it came out last August, citing the solid health and fitness tracking capabilities and the clean, minimalist design. It's our current favorite smartwatch for Android users as a capable companion for your smartphone, delivering alerts and notifications to keep you in the loop. If you'd like a larger display or have bigger wrists, you may prefer the 44mm size. It's also on sale for $60 off, bringing it to $249 instead of $310. Cherlynn gave the Pro model a slightly better review score of 86 and it's getting a 19 percent discount that makes it $363.Vitamix E310 Explorian BlenderWe named Vitamix's E310 Explorian Blender one of the best kitchen gadgets in our 2023 guide. This week, it's seeing a $60 discount at Amazon, Target and at Vitamix, bringing the cost down to $290 instead of $350. The E310 offers a great balance of performance to value — more powerful than the base-model Vitamix One and more reasonably priced than the top-of-the-line Ascent series. Amazon and Vitamix are both billing the sale as an early Mother's Day promotion, but anyone who likes to cook will appreciate the versatility of a Vitamix, regardless of their parental status.Govee RGBIC LED strip lightsSmart lightbulbs come in more shapes than just the standard A-series. One non-standard variety comes from Govee, makers of our favorite strip lights, the Govee M1 RGBIC. Amazon is selling a trimmable, 16.4-foot length for a ten percent discount. If you apply the available $15 coupon, you'll save a total of $25, making them just $85.These lights can add ambience to a room or a little extra light in awkward places. Our senior commerce editor Valentina particularly appreciated the wide range of colors and the surprising level of brightness the diminutive bulbs were capable of producing. Her two complaints stemmed from the app, which is a little chaotic, and the price. But thanks to the sale, at least one of those factors is a little easier to put up with.Tile TrackerWhen I tested Bluetooth trackers for Engadget's guide, I named the Tile Pro the best option for Android users and the Tile Slim as the best option for keeping tabs on a wallet. As part of a Mother's Day promotion, Tile is bundling two of each tracker and offering a 21 percent discount on the set. Tile's finding network isn't as massive as Apple's Find My, but I was impressed by how well it used the Tile "community" to locate lost items. Also, the trackers themselves ring much louder than Apple's AirTags.Other Tiles are on sale too, including a two-pack of the Tile Slims for 35 percent off and a two-pack of the Tile Mates for a 27 percent discount. It's worth noting that Chipolo's One tracker beat out the Tile Mate because the former is louder and has a replaceable battery. It's also quicker to send an alert when a tagged item is left behind — and it doesn't require a subscription to access that feature like Tile does.Samsung The Frame TV (65-inch)If you want your television to look like a very large piece of art when you're not watching it, you may be interested in the discounts Samsung and B&H Photo are running on the 65-inch Frame 4K HDR Smart QLED TVs. A $300 discount brings the 65-inch model down to $1,698 and a $500 deal on the 75-inch model brings it down to $2,498. Unfortunately, the more moderately sized models, ranging between 32 and 55 inches, aren't seeing a discount this week. So this only applies to those who like their entertainment extra large.Xbox Wireless HeadsetUnfortunately for Xbox players, not every wireless headset is compatible with Microsoft's console since it uses the company's own wireless protocol. But you can be sure the headset made the brand itself will work right out of the box, no dongle/adapter required. Right now the Xbox Wireless Headset is 15 percent off, bringing it down to $85. You can get a claimed 15 hours of use on a charge, and the cans support a few different spatial audio technologies, which lets you better detect where sounds are coming from within your game.It's worth pointing out that these didn't make the cut in our recent guide to gaming headsets and headphones. Our senior commerce writer, Jeff Dunn, recommends the Xbox-compatible, wireless SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro 7X instead. It's a bit more expensive than the Xbox headset, but is currently getting a $20 discount, bringing it to $160. The Arctis Nova Pro 7X also supports spatial audio and gets nearly 30 hours of play on a charge.If you don't need to connect to an Xbox, check out the PC- and PlayStation-compatible Logitech G535 headset, which are seeing a 23 percent discount bringing them to $100. Jeff says the G535s are light and comfortable and the best of the sub-$100 wireless pairs he tested. Of course, what he truly recommends is wired headphones — with an external USB mic if you need to chat with friends. Go that route and you'll typically get better sound at a better value. Our best overall pick for wired gaming headphones is the Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X. They're holding firm at their list price of $259, but the detailed sound might be worth it for some gamers.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/irobots-roomba-694-drops-back-to-180-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-180016328.html?src=rss
Despite suffering a significant blow this week in its attempt to take over Activision Blizzard, Microsoft still believes it can get the job done. The company has signed a 10-year agreement with Spain-based cloud gaming provider Nware to make PC games it builds in-house available to stream on that platform, along with Activision Blizzard titles if and when the $68.7 billion deal goes through."While it's still early for the emerging cloud segment in gaming, this new partnership combined with our other recent commitments will make more popular games available on more cloud game streaming services than they are today," Microsoft president and vice-chair Brad Smith wrote on Twitter. "We are full speed ahead in our mission to bring players more ways to play their favorite games," Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer added.
Vampire Survivors, the addictively casual indie game, is getting an animated television series. Known for its rich and cinematic backstory to the same degree as narrative-driven classics Space Invaders, BurgerTime and Dig Dug, Vampire Survivors is a pick-up-and-play casual game with simple 2D character sprites. Media company Story Kitchen will partner with the game’s creator, Luca Galante (founder of developer poncle), to make the series.Galante said in a (hopefully) cheeky tone, “The most important thing in Vampire Survivors is the story, so it’s a dream come true to see what started as a little indie game I made on my weekends come to life as an animated TV show! It’s also great to be partnering up with such experienced and talented people to make the show. I do wonder if they’ve realized that there isn’t a single vampire in Vampire Survivors, though.” If the announcement sets the stage for the series, we may be in store for a show brimming with self-aware and tongue-in-cheek humor.The game’s backstory is no more complex than the blurb, “The year 2021, Rural Italy, there lived an evil person named Bisconte Draculó, whose many evil magics created a bad world filled with famine and suffering. It’s now up to the members of the Belpaese family to end his reign of terror and return good food to the table.” Vampire Survivor’s gameplay revolves around controlling an auto-firing character’s movement and loadout as they blast away increasingly daunting hordes of enemies. It borrows elements from roguelike games and tower defense (with Castlevania-esque characters). Once you settle into the action, it can almost become a meditative experience. The title has consistently been one of the most-played Steam Deck games since its launch and is available on PC, Mac, Xbox, Android and iOS.Story Kitchen is headed by Dmitri Johnson, who co-produced the Sonic the Hedgehog movie series. It also includes John Wick creator and writer Derek Kolstad, former Agency of the Performing Arts (APA) agent, and partner Mike Goldberg. Deadlinereports that the series creators are currently searching for a writer. Hopefully, the eventual scribe won’t find their ideas too constrained by the game’s sprawling and complex lore.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/vampire-survivors-is-getting-an-animated-television-series-165532824.html?src=rss
Never mind using AI to write stories — Walmart is finding it helpful for landing a good bargain. The retailer tellsBloomberg that it's using a chatbot from Pactum AI to automatically negotiate some supplier deals. The technology is not only saving an average of three percent on contracts, but preferable to the vendors. Three out of four suppliers prefer haggling with the AI over a human, Walmart says.Pactum's system just asks Walmart to set its budget and requirements, such as discounts and payment terms. It compares a supplier's demands with trends, commodity values and competitors' costs. After that, the AI can strike a deal within a matter of days, rather than the weeks or months of conventional talks. Walmart first piloted the tool in Canada, but has since expanded its use to the US, Chile and South Africa.The AI is currently negotiating only for shopping carts and other store essentials, rather than the products you find on the shelves. It's also not completely replacing humans. At present, Pactum's tech is mainly being used for savings in contracts that aren't necessarily worth much time. The bot still has to negotiate with a real person, so completely automated discussions aren't any option in the near future. This is more to lighten the load of busy procurement teams than to avoid hiring.That might not reassure people worried about their jobs. The reliance on AI comes right as many companies are conducting mass layoffs to endure a rough economy. Chatbots like this can help Walmart and others minimize the effects of job cuts and hiring freezes. Moreover, Walmart has spent years experimenting with robots that could reduce the need for staff. Humans aren't going away any time soon, but the company isn't depending on them as much as in the past.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/walmarts-suppliers-would-rather-negotiate-with-ai-than-a-human-162131831.html?src=rss
A former Apple employee who pled guilty to defrauding the company out of over $17 million has been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to repay his ill-gotten gains. Dhirendra Prasad, who primarily worked as a buyer in Apple's Global Service Supply Chain department during his time at the company, admitted to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States in November. As iMore notes, two charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering were dismissed during sentencing.Prasad joined Apple in 2008 and carried out his schemes between 2011 and 2018. According to the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, he conspired with two vendors to conduct fraud against Apple by "taking kickbacks, stealing parts, inflating invoices and causing Apple to pay for items and services it never received." Prasad is said to have used his insider knowledge of Apple's fraud detection practices to avoid being caught for several years.The government has already seized $5.5 million worth of assets from Prasad, who a judge ordered to pay an additional forfeiture money judgment of $8.1 million. On top of that sum and the $17.4 million Prasad has been told to give back to Apple, he was ordered to pay $1.9 million to the Internal Revenue Service — he conceded that he did not pay tax on the proceeds of his schemes. Following Prasad's time in prison, he will have to serve three years of supervised release.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ex-apple-employee-sentenced-to-three-years-in-prison-after-17-million-fraud-scheme-160225741.html?src=rss
Sony has a great track record when it comes to budget headphones. The company’s WH-CH710N were excellent, but overpriced initially. Sony made them an incredible value at $150 after it cut the price shortly after their debut in 2020. Great sound quality, capable ANC, good battery life and a comfy fit made the WH-CH710N a compelling, affordable alternative to the premium WH-1000XM3, which was the company’s flagship model at the time. Earlier this year, the company debuted the follow-up to that three-year-old set: the WH-CH720N.On paper, the 2023 edition should keep Sony’s reputation for solid mid-range and budget headphones as alternatives to the pricey WH-1000XM5. The WH-CH720N houses the same V1 chip from the M5, which powers both active noise cancellation (ANC) and overall sound quality. There’s also an updated design and a lower price following another early cut ($130), but battery life remains the same at 35 hours. So, is the WH-CH720N another mid-range hit for Sony?Let’s start with the design. The WH-CH720N takes cues from Sony’s more recent 1000X headphones and the WH-XB910N, primarily the headband and ear cup hinges. The outside of the ear cups are flatter and they’re just hard plastic – no soft-touch material here. Like previous mid-range Sony models, the WH-CH720N has physical controls with a power/pairing button on the left beside the USB-C charging port and 3.5mm jack. On the right side, there’s a dedicated noise canceling button that cycles between ANC and transparency mode. There’s also the typical three-button array with volume controls flanking the multi-function track and call button. That center control also summons your preferred voice assistant. While the buttons work reliably, the raised dash on the middle button is low, so it’s difficult to place your thumb quickly.Like the WH-CH710N, this new model is supremely lightweight and comfy. I can easily wear these for hours at a time. There’s also ample cushioning in the ear pads and the headband hinge isn’t wound so tight it pinches my head. I liked a lot of what the 710N had to offer, but overall comfort was near the top of the list, so it’s great to see that Sony didn’t overlook this aspect when designing the follow-up version. The only real issue is that it uses a lot of plastic. While this helps keep the weight down, it also ensures the 720N look decidedly cheap.The suite of features for the WH-CH720N inside the Sony Headphones app is where you’ll notice key differences from the WH-1000XM5. Most notably, the 720N doesn’t have Speak-to-Chat, a feature that automatically pauses audio when it detects you’re talking. Related, this new model also doesn’t have automatic pausing when you take them off your head.Photo by Billy Steele/EngadgetDespite a few omissions, there are still some handy tools available. First, Adaptive Sound Control allows the app to automatically adjust settings based on your location or activity. This allows you to turn on ANC when you arrive at the office or activate transparency mode when you start a run, for example. Here, and in the general sound settings, you can specify a level of ambient sound and choose to pipe in voices while this mode is active.Additionally, Sony offers an EQ slider for manual adjustments as well as a separate bass adjustment. There’s also a collection of audio presets if you’re in a hurry. 360 Reality Audio is available on the WH-CH720N (with a compatible streaming subscription) and the app gives you the option of DSEE upscaling to improve compressed content. The app also allows you to activate multipoint Bluetooth for two devices and a Safe Listening feature is there to help preserve your hearing.Perhaps the most surprising thing about the WH-CH710N was the overall sound quality. I was amazed at what Sony managed in a set of headphones that cost half as much as its flagship model. There was ample bass with an open soundstage and great clarity in the details. Thankfully, the WH-CH720N is more of the same. These headphones allow the subtleties of boygenius’ the record to shine, from the somber guitar effects to the quieter keyboard/organ parts of songs like “True Blue.” There are lots of more subdued parts on the record that you can easily pick up on. The fingerpicked acoustic guitar and banjo on “Cool About It” are also quite dynamic and textural.Heavier, more chaotic genres fare just as well. Better Lovers’ gritty, thrashy metal track “30 Under 13” is quite a ride. Even the fastest, grindiest riffs are captured with surprising clarity. All the instruments stand on their own, and at no point do they become a smashed together mess. The dynamics of tracks like O’Brother’s “Halogen Eye'' also come through well. There’s plenty of grainy, thick distortion on the verses and these headphones get every bit of that texture, in addition to reverb and other effects that create the band’s atmospheric, moody soundscape.Lastly, on Nickel Creek’s Celebrants – a modern bluegrass record – the WH-CH720N allows you to feel like you’re in the room with the band. Helped in part by the positioning of the guitar, mandolin, fiddle and bass in the mix, the headphones keep the sensation of sitting in on a private performance rather than simply listening to a recorded track.Photo by Billy Steele/EngadgetIn terms of noise cancellation, I think the WH-CH720N are a slight step back from the 710N. The ANC will do just fine for you in most cases, especially with constant noise. However, these headphones really struggle with human voices, which doesn’t make them the best option if your primary aim is to block out a nearby phone call or chatty colleagues. Transparency mode offers a great natural sound that comes in especially handy when you’re taking video and voice calls. Speaking of calls, the 720N does a decent job blocking background noise and the overall audio quality makes you sound better than speakerphone and most earbuds. It’s not pristine, but it’s a cut above the status quo.When it comes to battery life, Sony promises up to 35 hours with ANC on. During what I consider normal use – a mix of noise canceling and transparency mode for music and calls, plus powering off a few times overnight – the app showed 40 percent remaining after 28 hours. The Bluetooth menu in macOS backed this up. The company says you can expect up to 50 hours with ANC off, so my mixed-use trials were on par with that. Battery life estimates have never been a problem on Sony headphones and that’s not the case here either. Plus, 35 hours is on par with most flagship models these days, even if it’s the same figure as the previous model.The WH-CH720N is a strong contender to replace the current budget pick in our best headphones guide, but if you need a solid alternative look to Audio-Technica. While the $79 M20xBT is our current low-cost selection, the M50xBT2 is a more apt comparison. The M50 doesn't offer active noise cancellation, but they do have a more refined design, physical controls and warm, inviting sound. If you don’t need extra help blocking out distractions, they’re currently available for $199 – $69 more than the 720N. Sony introduced the WH-CH520 alongside the WH-CH720N, which could be an option if you’re really pinching pennies. This on-ear model doesn’t have ANC either, but it does have 50-hour battery life and multipoint connectivity alongside onboard controls. What’s more, they’re only $50.Sony has managed to build another compelling set of affordable noise-canceling headphones without cutting too many corners. Sure, there are some premium features you’ll have to live without, but the WH-CH720N covers the basics well. Good sound quality with specific attention to finer details and ample bass is combined with a handy transparency mode and automatic sound profile switching. The noise cancellation does a decent job, but it’s not the best, and you’ll have to make do without automatic pausing. Still, for well under $150, you’d be hard pressed to find a better option at this price.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-wh-ch720n-review-160032871.html?src=rss
The Razer Blade 16 is one of the most unique laptops we’ve ever seen – I just wish I could recommend it as easily as the Blade 15. It can handle 4K gaming just as well as high-speed 1080p gameplay, thanks to a dual-mode screen. And it’s one of the fastest notebooks around, featuring Intel’s latest CPUs and NVIDIA’s newest GPUs. And notably, it can be configured with an RTX 4090.But all of that comes at a cost. It’s noticeably heavier than the Blade 15, and you’ll have to pay at least $3,300 to own one with the dual-mode display. It’s like Razer put another Razer tax on top of its already high prices.For some, though, the cost will be worth it. The Blade 16’s MiniLED display can natively handle 4K+ 120Hz (meaning it can show up to 120fps gameplay), and 1080p+ 240Hz. You could always configure a 4K panel to scale down to 1080p or lower resolutions, but that usually leads to a muddy mess, and 4K screens are typically limited to 120Hz at best. What’s special about the Blade 16 is that it delivers those resolutions as sharply as standalone monitors.According to Razer, the Blade 16’s dual-mode MiniLED technology was developed together with the display maker AUO. The screen is natively a 4K+ 240Hz panel that can sync pixels together to accurately scale down to 1080p, something that looks far better than typical downscaling. Razer says there’s no mobile GPU or data pipeline that can effectively deliver 4K at 240Hz, so that refresh rate is only possible in 1080p. (It’s still rare to find 4K 240Hz on desktop monitors, and even a 4090 would have trouble hitting 240fps at that resolution.)Previously, you'd have to choose between a 4K screen with a much lower refresh rate, or a faster 1080p or 1,440p display. The Blade 16 lets you have your gaming cake and eat it too. The only downside is that switching between those two modes requires a complete reboot. Given how miraculous technology seems, though, I don't think that's a huge problem. If you care more about resolution, stick with the 4K 120Hz mode until you need to dive into some fast-paced competitive gaming.Maybe instead of thinking of the Blade 16 as a slight upgrade from the 15-inch model, it's better to think of it as a shrunken down Blade 17. That's another massive and expensive computer, but potential buyers are likely aware of its downsides. More importantly, the Blade 17 was the fastest Razer laptop for years — now that title belongs to the Blade 16 and the new Blade 18.Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetBoth of these laptops feature Intel's 13th-gen mobile CPUs, as well as NVIDIA's more powerful RTX 4080 and 4090 GPUs. This is the first time we've seen NVIDIA's 90-series hardware on any notebook, so that alone is sure to be a hook for power hungry gamers. Strangely, though, Razer's dual-mode display is only available on the Blade 16 — the tech likely isn't there yet to make it happen on the bigger computer.In practice, the Blade 16 excelled at both 4K and 1080p gaming. Cyberpunk 2077 and Halo Infinite looked absolutely crisp in 4K with their graphics and ray tracing settings maxed out. Both games also looked far brighter than I've ever seen on a laptop thanks to the MiniLED panel. That's particularly useful for bright HDR highlights, something most notebooks and monitors handle poorly.NonePCMark 103DMark (TimeSpy Extreme)Geekbench 5Cinebench R23Razer Blade 16 (Intel i9-13950HX, NVIDIA RTX 4090)7,3648,6671,943/18,2272,024/15,620Razer Blade 18 (Intel i9-13950HX, NVIDIA RTX 4060)7,3265,0091,980/13,6581,900/15,442Razer Blade 15 (2022, Intel i7-12800H, NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti)7,0854,7981,795/9,5291,661/10,464ASUS Zephyrus G14 (2022, AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, Radeon RX 6800S)7,1703,8211,543/9,8391,521/12,212Given the sheer power of the RTX 4090 in our review unit, the Blade 16 was also able to play games in 4K well beyond 60fps. Depending on your graphics settings, you may even be able to reach 120fps to fully max out its screen. Halo Infinite hit a very playable 80fps with ultra graphics settings, while Cyberpunk 2077 hit 70fps with Ultra ray tracing settings thanks to DLSS 3.Not surprisingly, the Blade 16 had no issue getting above 200fps in Halo Infinite and Overwatch 2 when I flipped over to 1080p mode. Personally, I've never really seen the point of gaming screens beyond 120Hz — I just can’t really perceive much of a difference by bumping up to 144 or 240Hz. But after switching between the Blade 16's various modes, I noticed that I played better as I approached 200fps — I hit headshots more regularly, and I was faster to react whenever enemies popped up. Maybe it was just luck, or me feeling more comfortable over time — or maybe those extra frames actually helped.As much as I enjoyed the Blade 16's gorgeous display and incredible performance, I didn't love lugging it around my house or hauling it in a bookbag. It weighs 5.4 pounds, a full pound heavier than the Blade 15. Now that might not seem like much, but it makes a huge difference for portability. Living with the Blade 15 was no different than most other 15-inch notebooks, but the Blade 16 feels noticeably bulkier.But again, maybe I should be judging it against the Blade 17 instead, which weighed a little over 6 pounds. When compared to that, the Blade 16 seems like a remarkable engineering feat. That's not the way most people think of 16-inch notebooks though: The MacBook Pro 16 replaced the 15-inch model, and many other laptop makers are following suit with their larger notebooks.On the non-gaming front, the Blade 16 also excelled at everything I threw at it. Scrolling through websites and documents was a dream, thanks to that high refresh rate screen. And while it doesn’t include a mechanical keyboard like Alienware and other competitors, the Blade 16’s typing experience was solid. The trackpad is also far larger than the Blade 15’s, but it’s just as smooth and responsive. And you can actually expect to do a decent amount of work before recharging: In PCMark 10’s battery benchmark, it lasted 5 hours and 15 minutes, two hours more than the Blade 18. It also has every port you’d want: three USB 3.0 Type A connections (two on the left side, one on the right), HDMI, two USB-C ports (one of which supports Thunderbolt 4) and a microSD card slot.Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetAs I spent time with the Blade 16, I couldn’t help but ask myself: Is it really worth spending more for a dual-mode screen, when fast 1,440p laptops are becoming increasingly affordable? Personally, I think that resolution sits at a sweet spot between delivering more pixels than 1080p, but also achieving faster refresh rates than any 4K panel. For most people, a 1,440p laptop (like the Zephyrus G14) simply makes more sense – especially when you can find them for $1,000 (or more) less than the Blade 16.Given its added heft, as well as its higher $2,700 starting price (with an RTX 4060), I can't recommend the Blade 16 to most buyers – not when the Blade 15 is still around and starts at $2,000 with a 3070 Ti. If you want the 4060, be prepared to shell out another $500. And if you’re mainly intrigued by the dual-mode display on the Blade 16, that costs $3,300 with an RTX 4070. Honestly, that’s a ridiculously high price for a laptop with that GPU. Our review unit cost a whopping $4,300 with the Core i9-13950HX, RTX 4090, 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD.But, just like much of Apple’s hardware, the Razer tax may be something we have to pay for innovation. The Blade 16’s dual-mode screen is one of the most remarkable things I’ve seen in a gaming laptop lately – but for most shoppers, the Blade 15 will be far more practical.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/razer-blade-16-review-4k-1080p-miniled-screen-151100229.html?src=rss
Xbox gamers looking for a headset that both supports spatial audio and looks pretty sleek may be interested in checking out the Xbox Wireless Headset. Although there are a number of other options on the market, this model ties into the aesthetic of the Xbox Series X (and previous Xboxes, given the green and black color scheme). Best of all, the Xbox Wireless Headset is on sale right now. It has dropped by $15 to $85 at Amazon.The headset can connect directly to your Xbox Series X/S or Xbox One without the need for a dongle. It's compatible with Windows 10 and 11 devices. There's the option to connect it to your phone and Xbox simultaneously, so you can take a call without interrupting your gaming session. Additionally, there's Bluetooth and USB-C support and you'll get up to 15 hours of use on a single charge, Microsoft says.There's support for Windows Sonic, Dolby Atmos and DTS Headphone:X spatial audio protocols, though you'll need a $15 license to use Dolby Atmos beyond any free trial that's on offer. Spatial audio can, for instance, help you figure out which direction enemies are approaching from.You'll be able to use rotating earcup dials to adjust the volume and chat levels. The headset uses dual beamforming microphone elements and voice isolation tech to optimize your in-game voice chat. There's an auto-mute option that kicks in when you aren't talking, as well as a manual mute button. Moreover, the headset has an adjustable headband with what Microsoft describes as a flexible and lightweight design.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-xbox-wireless-headset-is-15-off-at-amazon-143444240.html?src=rss
This is a great opportunity to buy an affordable smartwatch for your springtime runs and bike rides. Amazon is selling the Fitbit Versa 4 at a near-record low price of $160, or $40 off. The bargain applies regardless of color, too. And if you want Fitbit's most advanced model, the Sense 2 is down to $250, or $50 off.The Versa 4 is a refinement of Fitbit's middle-of-the-road smartwatch, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. You still get robust fitness and health tracking, with 40 exercise modes, sleep monitoring and even a stress management score. It also offers support for Google Maps (on Android for now, iOS later in the spring) and Google Wallet — you can use two of the most common navigation and tap-to-pay services on your wrist without giving up some of Fitbit's advantages, including the six-day claimed battery life.There are a few caveats. You'll need to pay for a Premium subscription (after the first six months, that is) if you want perks like guided programs and personalized insights. And while you will get some core smartwatch features, you'll want to consider the Pixel Watch if you're willing to trade battery life for a much more robust app ecosystem that still preserves Fitbit's functionality. At $160, however, the Versa 4 is far easier to rationalize if you only want the essentials.Buy Fitbit Sense 2 at Amazon - $250Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-fitbit-versa-4-smartwatch-is-down-to-just-160-140013502.html?src=rss
I really thought we were done with Android tablets. Google itself hasn’t released one in years, though that’ll change soon with the forthcoming Pixel Tablet. Samsung has hit on a high-end formula that works pretty well, Amazon’s cheap Fire tablets technically run Android… and that’s basically it. Plenty of manufacturers have tried, but for various reasons Android tablets have never caught on.Despite that market reality, OnePlus is taking its first shot at this market with the $479 OnePlus Pad. As the price hints, OnePlus isn’t going right after high-end tablets like Samsung’s Galaxy S8 lineup or Apple’s iPad Air or Pro. Instead, this tablet reminds me more of Apple’s 10th-generation iPad, in style, substance and price. And the fact that OnePlus is also making a keyboard folio and a stylus shows they’re serious about making a tablet built for more than just watching movies or browsing the web. But while OnePlus made a lovely piece of hardware, Android’s large-screen limitations continue to hamper the overall experience.HardwareThe OnePlus Pad makes a great first impression. That starts with its striking metallic green color and subtle rounded brushing of the metal that surrounds the centered camera bump on the tablet’s back. I’m a little surprised that OnePlus isn’t offering the Pad in a more generic color like black or silver, but the green makes it stand out a bit without being something most people will object to.Despite having a relatively large, 11.6-inch display, it’s light and easy to hold with one hand. That’s due in part to the tiny 6.7mm bezel surrounding the display. That’s slightly thinner than the one on my 11-inch iPad Pro and noticeably thinner than the one on the current Air or 10th-generation iPad. OnePlus used a rather unusual screen ratio here, 7:5, but I definitely prefer that over the 16:9 ratio so common on other devices. Movies and shows will have more noticeable black bars, but everything else benefits from more vertical screen real estate.Photo by Nathan Ingraham / EngadgetBesides the screen, there’s nothing else of note on the front of the Pad aside from the landscape-oriented 8-megapixel camera for video chat. On the sides, you’ll notice the power button and two volume buttons, a USB-C port and four speakers. As with most successful tablet designs, it’s a screen-first device that is light and easy to hold, which is probably the most important thing.There’s a lot to like about the OnePlus Tab’s screen besides just the size. OnePlus says it’s a Dolby Vision panel with HDR, and its 2,800 x 2,000 resolution works out to 296 pixels per inch. Even though it’s an LCD, lacking the extreme contrast ratios you’ll find on OLED or mini-LED panels, it’s still an extremely bright and vibrant display, whether you’re looking through photos, watching a movie or playing games. It also has a 144Hz refresh rate, though most apps max out at 120Hz. Still, that’s better than any iPad in this price range.The four-speaker system is also much better than I expected, given the Tab’s svelte profile. It can get surprisingly loud, pumping out enough volume for watching movies on your own or with a friend. But more importantly than just the level, the sound is clear and balanced. You’ll still likely want to opt for headphones during any more serious listening session, but these speakers definitely do the job in a pinch.On the inside is MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000, a Cortex-X2 processor which runs at 3.05 GHz; that’s paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.AccessoriesUnsurprisingly, OnePlus made a keyboard folio and stylus to go along with the Tab.Also unsurprisingly, the tablet isn’t bundled with either, so you’ll need to shell out extra cash to complete your rig. The $149 keyboard includes a trackpad and connects directly to the Pad via pogo pins, so it doesn’t need its own power or a Bluetooth connection. It’s thin and attaches easily to the Pad without adding any significant weight or bulk, which is a nice change of pace from the comfortable but heavy Magic Keyboard that goes along with my iPad Pro.The keyboard is a bit of a mixed bag, though. On the plus side, it’s just big enough to be comfortable to type on for extended periods of time. Like the keyboard on the similarly-sized iPad Air or Pro, there’s a little learning curve, but the keys are a good size and have decent travel. The space key was a lot less reliable than I hoped, though (apologies to my editor who had to fix the numerous missing spaces in this draft). The trackpad, on the other hand, was a bit more problematic. It wasn’t great at rejecting input from the edge of my hands, so it often moved the cursor randomly around as I was typing this review. It was incredibly frustrating and almost made me give up on it entirely. I eventually managed to hold my hands to minimize the mistaken input, but it still happened often enough to be maddening.Photo by Nathan Ingraham / EngadgetThe trackpad itself was generally fine for moving through the OnePlus Pad’s interface, but it felt just a little slow to respond to everything I was doing, whether scrolling, swiping or clicking on things. This is a recurring theme with the whole OnePlus Pad experience, unfortunately. The trackpad itself is small, but I’m plenty comfortable with a similar-sized one on my iPad.The last nit I’ll pick about the keyboard folio is that you can’t adjust the angle of the screen at all. The folio holds it in a fixed position, so hopefully that works for you. This isn’t dissimilar to some other keyboard folios for other tablets in this price range, so I will only complain so much, but it would still be nice if it was adjustable.There’s also a stylus available for the Pad, the $99 OnePlus Stylo. Like the second-generation Apple Pencil, the Stylo magnetically attaches to the top of the Pad for power and convenient storage. I love this trick on the iPad, and I love it here as well. The Stylo itself is a round (aside from the flat charging edge), fairly nondescript piece of hardware that serves its purpose well.I have zero visual arts skills, so I can’t say exactly how it compares to using an iPad and Apple Pencil for serious creative work. But, OnePlus says it has 4,096 levels of pressure and 60 degrees of tilt, which should make it a versatile instrument. And in a little testing taking notes and scribbling around in the OnePlus Notes app, I was immediately impressed at the total lack of lag. If you can find the right drawing software, the OnePlus Pad and the Stylo could make a reasonably affordable and powerful drawing kit.Photo by Nathan Ingraham / EngadgetSoftware experienceAs with basically every Android tablet I’ve ever used, the thing that is holding the OnePlus Pad back isn’t its hardware, but the software. The Pad runs Android 13.1 with OnePlus’ Oxygen OS on top of it. For the most part, Oxygen OS represents a minor re-skinning of the Android UI, along with a couple custom OnePlus apps as well as some handy tricks if you also use a OnePlus phone. Unfortunately, I didn’t have access to a OnePlus phone for this review, but these features are worth noting.For starters, OnePlus has a cellular data sharing feature that lets the Pad jump onto the 5G signal from a OnePlus smartphone. It’s automatically enabled when the phone is near the Pad. Obviously, tethering another device to a smartphone signal isn’t new technology, but OnePlus is definitely trying to make it more seamless. Furthermore, OnePlus built in an “Auto Connect” feature between the Pad and a compatible phone, which means you can receive notifications, share clipboard data for instant copy and pasting, and see text messages and phone calls on the Pad. If you’re in the OnePlus ecosystem already, this is a solid reason to consider the Pad over another competing tablet.OnePlus also did a decent job of including some apps that take advantage of the Pad’s screen – the Notes app uses multiple panes to show your list of notes as well as whatever you’re working on, or you can go into a full-screen focus mode. It also has a to-do app built in and works well with the Stylo if you want to draw or take handwritten notes. The Weather app, meanwhile, feels like a clone of what you might find on the iPad, but it’s still useful and takes advantage of a bigger screen, rather than feeling like a blown-up phone app.Photo by Nathan Ingraham / EngadgetNaturally, Google has done a great job of making its apps work on a larger screen, as well. Chrome, Gmail, Photos, Drive, Docs, Meet and basically anything else I tried from Google felt native, which goes a long way towards making the OnePlus Pad feel useful.The experience isn’t so great once you start using third-party apps, though. If you’ve ever read a review of an Android tablet, you’ve heard this complaint before. There just aren’t enough Android apps designed to take advantage of a bigger screen. Comparing things like Slack and Twitter to their iPad counterparts shows that the developers haven’t taken larger-screen Android devices into account. On the iPad, both apps have multiple panes which makes it much easier to get things done. On the Pad, Slack just shows any conversation you’re in at full width. Similarly, tweets stretch across the entire screen and images or video aren’t scaled down at all. Todoist, another app I use constantly, has a sidebar, but it automatically hides whenever I tap on an item, so I have to keep resummoning it.There are also numerous apps, like Reddit and Instagram, that simply don’t run in landscape orientation at all. Even worse, some apps throw you from landscape into portrait mode. For example, HBO Max seems to work fine in landscape mode, but when I exit a movie, the screen jumps to portrait mode. There are also plenty of strange bugs throughout the system. More than once, I tried playing a video in HBO Max or the Google TV app only to have it refuse to load. This happened in both apps back-to-back and was only cleared up after rebooting the tablet. Another fun one is the notification I get every single time I open up the keyboard folio that tells me to “configure physical keyboard,” which brings up a menu with basically nothing you can actually configure.Probably the most frustrating thing for me was simply trying to work across multiple apps. Pressing alt-tab brings up a view of recently-used apps, but the implementation is poor. If you tap alt-tab once and don’t hold anything, all it does is zoom out of the app you’re in and then drop you back. On basically every other computer I can think of, this key command brings you straight to the last app you were using. If you keep holding alt and press tab again, you’ll start cycling through your recent apps – but there’s absolutely no visual indicator to show which you have selected, so it’s useless. Swiping up on the trackpad with three fingers and holding for a second also drops you into this view, and you can then swipe around with the trackpad and click on the app you want. That’s marginally better, but not having a reliable keyboard shortcut for moving between apps is infuriating.Just as you can on an iPad, you can split an app view and run two apps side-by-side. This generally works fine – but if you exit out to the home screen, the only way to get that dual view back is by going into the aforementioned app switching view. Tapping the app’s icon on the home screen will bring that app back up in full screen, forgetting the configuration you had beforeDespite all this, the OnePlus Pad is fairly responsive, at least. Websites and apps loaded quickly, but scrolling through sites or my long list of emails felt a little bit choppy. That’s despite the screen’s high refresh rate. Similarly, games I tried (including Genshin Impact, Asphalt 9 and my go-to Alto’s Odyssey) mostly worked fine, but had occasional moments where it felt the hardware was struggling slightly. For a tablet priced under $500, the OnePlus Pad more or less met my expectations – but it’s not as smooth as even the most basic iPad.One area where the OnePlus Pad is definitively great is on battery life. I can get about 10 hours doing my normal work routine on the device, jumping between multiple apps, playing occasional games, watching some videos and streaming music. More extensive gaming sessions will always run the battery down quicker, as will jacking up the screen brightness, but I don’t think anyone who tries this tablet will need to worry about reaching for the charger too often.Photo by Nathan Ingraham / EngadgetWrap-upAfter using the OnePlus Pad for a few weeks, I’m left struggling with who this device is for. Die-hard Android fans are probably better served by a Samsung tablet, though people who use a OnePlus phone will appreciate the way the two devices work together. For the price, the OnePlus Pad does a fair few things well, at least. The battery is very good, the Stylo is a solid drawing tool and the screen is better than one you’ll find on a similarly-priced iPad.But the app ecosystem for large-screen Android devices remains dire, and the experience of using Android on a tablet still does not feel fully baked. Most Android users who have a passing interest in using a tablet will likely still be better off with an iPad. They’re faster, less buggy and have a wildly better app ecosystem. And the price comparison doesn’t exactly work out well in the OnePlus Pad’s favor, either. The kit I tested cost $730, while you can get a 10th-generation iPad with its keyboard folio and pencil for $800.If you’re absolutely not willing to consider Apple hardware, we’re just a few weeks away from Google taking the wraps off the Pixel Tablet. While that won’t solve the third-party app issue (after more than a decade, I don’t know what will), I do think it’s worth waiting to see what Google has in store before committing to new hardware. Unless, of course, you’re a die-hard OnePlus fan – but even those folks should think long and hard before pulling the trigger here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/oneplus-pad-review-solid-hardware-thats-let-down-by-android-130039695.html?src=rss
This week, Devindra chats with Sam Rutherford about his recent experiences with ASUS’s ROG Ally, a powerful new Steam Deck competitor, and Nintendo’s long-awaited The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The ROG Ally sounds like one of the best portable gaming systems yet, though we’re still waiting for pricing details. And Zelda was apparently a blast to play, but of course it was. Also, Devindra and Podcast Producer Ben Ellman dive into the latest news, including the FAA grounding SpaceX’s Starship and Grimes’ decision to let people run free with her AI voice.Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!Subscribe!
Russia has formally agreed to remain aboard the International Space Station (ISS) until 2028, NASA has announced. Yuri Borisov, the Director General of Roscosmos, previously said that the country was pulling out of the ISS after 2024 so it can focus on building its own space station. "After 2024" is pretty vague, though, and even Roscosmos official Sergei Krikalev said it could mean 2025, 2028 or 2030. Now, we have a more solid idea of until when Russia intends to remain a partner. To note, the United States, Japan, Canada and the participating countries of the ESA (European Space Agency) have previously agreed to keep the ISS running until 2030.After the United States and other countries imposed sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, former Roscosmos director Dmitry Rogozin spoke up and threatened to stop working with his agency's western counterparts. "I believe that the restoration of normal relations between the partners at the International Space Station and other projects is possible only with full and unconditional removal of illegal sanctions," Rogozin said at the time.While Roscosmos has now agreed to continue cooperating with its fellow ISS partners, the increasing tension between Russia and the US even before the invasion of Ukraine began prompted NASA to prepare for the possibility of the former leaving the space station. NASA and the White House reportedly drew plans to pull astronauts out of the station if Russia leaves abruptly, as well as to keep the ISS running without the Russian thrusters keeping the flying lab in orbit.Private space companies had reportedly been called in to help out, and a previous report said Boeing already formed a team of engineers to figure out how to control the ISS without Russia's thrusters. It's unclear if the remaining ISS partners will use any of those contingencies after 2028 and if a private space corp will step in to keep the space station running. It's worth noting, however, that NASA and other space agencies are already preparing to leave Low Earth Orbit to explore the moon.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/russia-will-continue-supporting-the-international-space-station-until-2028-121505126.html?src=rss
Reddit has announced a new feature for subreddits: chat channels. The launch comes with a disclaimer from the company that previous Chat launches were not done "in the best ways" and that this approach focuses on small communities and mod tools to, ideally, be better.Chat channels do differ in a few ways from the Live Chat feature, for example, existing as a permanent space in the subreddit, rather than a fleeting post. They're also operated by the mods, who can choose to block responses, pin messages and to chat in a private channel. Mods also control who's allowed in the channel, ranging from open participation all the way to only trusted members.RedditReddit claims to be building chat channels with space for additional updates, depending on testing results. The company specifically calls out features like automod rules, slow mode and the ability to build custom channel roles as potential developments.The chat channels announcement came alongside two other small Reddit updates. The company has rolled out an new subreddit header that shrinks the space between the header and posts, makes the search bar into one button and shows tabs like "menu" and "about" by clicking anywhere across the header. Reddit claims these updates increased community subscriptions and actions in tests. It also announced May 9th as an official shutdown date for its Predictions polling game. Users will no longer be able to create or join an active tournament and old tournaments will become inaccessible.For now, chat channels are still at the pilot program stage with only 25 subreddits testing them out at the moment — totalling less than 100,000 users. Mods interested in trying it out can add their subreddit to a participation waiting list.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/reddit-trials-permanent-chat-channels-in-subreddits-114548682.html?src=rss
Since smartphones obliterated the casual photography market, camera manufacturers are focusing on building models designed for very specific uses. Mirrorless cameras continue to improve in autofocus, video and more, while lens ranges expand year on year. Action cams provide sharp, fluid video, compact cameras target both tourists and vloggers and DSLRs are available at some of the best prices we’ve seen. We walk you through 2023’s highlights so far, including full-frame marvels, like Sony's ZV-E1, the Canon EOS R6 II and the Panasonic S5 II. (I am on the precipice of ordering the ZV-E1, myself.)If you’re considering a camera upgrade, this is a very good time to do so. Engadget’s Steve Dent walks you through the options.– Mat SmithThe Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.The biggest stories you might have missed‘Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon’ delivers fast-paced mech combat this August Elon Musk will likely face deposition in lawsuit over deadly Tesla Autopilot crash Zozofit's capture suit takes the guesswork out of body measuring Samsung's semiconductor business posted massive losses for Q1 2023SpaceX’s Starship launch caused a fire in a Texas state park The best 2-in-1 laptops for 2023 The Ayaneo 2S is another powerful Steam Deck rivalWith an AMD Ryzen 7000 chip likely the same as the one in ASUS ROG Ally.EngadgetAyaneo has confirmed its upcoming Ayaneo 2S Steam Deck-like handheld console will be powered by an AMD chip identical to the one in the ASUS ROG Ally. The AMD Ryzen 7000 chip is likely the Ryzen 7 7840U, a chip supposed to be nigh on the same as the Ally’s AMD Z1 Extreme. The Ayaneo 2S will also come with a three-pipe cooler and other improvements. The Ayaneo 2S looks identical to the Ayaneo 2 we reviewed earlier this year but has improvements that address some of our key complaints. Namely, the new 7000 series processor with Radeon 780M graphics offers "substantial performance gains.”Continue reading.Dyson's $949 air-purifying Zone headset is now available in the USIt has a detachable visor that stretches across your face.If Zyou hate breathing in pollutants and don't mind being stared at, then your time might have come: The Dyson Zone headphones are finally available to buy in the US. They're available on Dyson Direct in prussian blue and bright copper, with case, soft pouch, two filters and an in-flight adapter kit, all for the low, low price at $949. Here’s what we thought of the Zone.Continue reading.Teenage Engineering reveals a gorgeous mic I can’t affordBut I still want it.Teenage EngineeringTeenage Engineering has long made music gadgets with slick design and features, and now it’s dabbling in microphones. The CM-15 is described as the world’s “first all-in-1 mic offering.” There is a built-in battery that gets ten hours of use per charge, or you can plug it into any USB-C port to get some juice. As for connections, there’s a 3.5mm line output, a mini XLR and the aforementioned USB-C port. The microphone includes a built-in preamp, too. However, it’ll cost over $1,200 to bring this stylish microphone home. It starts shipping in June.Continue reading.PlayStation VR2 is finally heading to retailersIt’s been exclusive to the Direct sales platform since launch.The well-reviewed yet pricey PlayStation VR2 headset is making its way to retailers after a two-month stint of exclusivity at Sony’s own website. The company shared the news on Twitter but has not set an official date or even announced what lucky retailers would get their mitts on the PS5-adjacent headset. Sony tells customers to check with local retailers for availability information.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-theres-never-been-a-better-time-to-be-a-camera-nerd-111437803.html?src=rss
Everyone loves a good to-do list, and now they're spreading into PC games. Along with a slew of other new features, Steam's latest update includes an integrated Notes app as part of a re-vamped in-game overlay tool. It lets you write thoughts and tasks down about the game you're playing then runs on top of the game while you play, which you can access across any PC you log into and when playing offline.ValveAt any time you can pin the to-do list right to your gaming screen, adjusting its opacity based on your preferences. Guides, discussions and whatever is on your browser (even the show you're watching) can also be clipped to the game.Steam's other updates to the in-game overlay include a revamped toolbar and overview. The new toolbar has everything from chat to guides, customizable depending on fields you want to see and in either icon or list mode. The game overview will fill you in on information like accomplishment progress, friends' game play and news about that title.Notifications have also cleaned up a bit with less interruptions of things unrelated to you. The tray will only display newest notifications, but you can still view all if you want. The last in-game Steam update is for screenshots, allowing you to choose between large and small thumbnails, while also sorting screenshots by most recent, instead of per game.These features are only available through the Steam Client Beta at the moment, but if you’ve never opted into the Beta version before, it’s pretty simple. All you need to do is go to settings (it will be called preferences if you're on a Mac), click the change button where it says Beta Participation in the Accounts tab and choose Steam Beta Update. Once you restart Steam, the Beta features will become visible.Valve asserts that a lot of its recent work has gone towards improving code sharing between Steam Desktop Client, Deck and Big Picture mode. The company claims this should allow future features to roll out quicker across the different platforms.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/steam-now-lets-you-pin-to-do-lists-in-each-game-102547041.html?src=rss
The USS Enterprise has gone through several iterations across TV shows and movies, and now Star Trek fans can explore them as much as they want to online. As Deadline reports, the latest update to the Roddenberry Archive adds 360-degree virtual recreations of the famous Starship Enterprise bridge as depicted in various Star Trek properties. It has the bridge from Star Trek: The Original Series, Picard, Discovery and Strange New Worlds, arranged according to timeline in the new web portal. Fans can click on the version of the Enterprise they want to see and then expand the virtual bridge, which they can drag around and explore to see its beeping panels and displays.The Roddenberry Archive is a multi-decade collaboration between the estate of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and cloud graphics company OTOY. This is their largest set of digital archive works to date, and it was launched with accompanying videos, including a William Shatner interview with a holographic version of the 1979 USS Enterprise bridge as a background. John de Lancie, who has portrayed Q since 1987’s Star Trek: The Next Generation, also narrates the history of the Starship Enterprise bridge across decades of shows and movies.The Roddenberry Archive team is working to add more virtual set recreations fans can explore in the future aside from the ones already available. One of the projects they're working on is a 1:1 scale recreation of the entire Starship Enterprise from the 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/star-trek-experience-lets-you-virtually-walk-around-every-starship-enterprise-bridge-093257021.html?src=rss
Now that it's solved its supply shortages, Sony is seeing a lot of pent-up demand for PlayStation 5 consoles. The company just announced its second consecutive blockbuster quarter, selling 6.3 million PS5s — an impressive figure in a non-holiday period — compared to 2 million last year. That brings its total for fiscal year 2022 to 19.1 million, handily beating its own forecast of 18 million. The company has now sold 38.4 million PS5s since the console was released in late 2020.The news wasn't quite as good on the software side. Game sales were down to 68 million from 70.5 million a year ago, and lower for the fiscal year (264.2 million compared to 303.2 million in fiscal 2021). PlayStation Network users dropped to 108 million from 112 million the quarter before, though PS Plus subs were up very slightly.All of that added up to a fairly large boost in revenue in the Gaming & Network Services division, up to 1.073 trillion yen ($7.9 billion) compared to 665 billion yen ($4.9 billion) the year before. Operating profit was down, though, due to a hit in foreign exchange rates. For the year, Sony hit 3.9 trillion yen in sales ($29 billion), up from 2.7 trillion yen ($19.9 billion) the year prior.The company is confident that trajectory will continue into next year, forecasting a 7 percent boost in revenue for fiscal 2023. It's predicting increased hardware sales, including peripherals, though it didn't say anything about results for the PlayStation VR2 to date.Sony's gaming segment still dominates its other divisions, though its chip/sensor and entertainment technologies (TVs, cameras, etc.) were also bright spots. Overall, Sony set a new fiscal year sales record with 11.5 trillion yen in sales ($84.8 billion) and 1.21 trillion yen ($8.9 billion) in profits.Sony, of course, just scored a major win over its biggest rival as well. Yesterday, the UK blocked Microsoft's merger with Activision over cloud gaming concerns, though Microsoft has vowed to contest the decision.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-has-sold-over-384-million-ps5s-following-a-record-breaking-year-080509020.html?src=rss
Canada has passed its controversial streaming bill that requires Netflix, Spotify and other companies to pay to support Canadian series, music and other content, the CBC has reported. After clearing a final hurdle in the Senate on Thursday, Bill C-11 imposes the same content laws on streamers as it does on traditional broadcasters. The government has promised that the bill only applies to companies and not individual content creators on YouTube or other platforms.The new rules give the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regulator broad powers over streaming companies, which could face fines or other penalties if they don't comply with the new laws. "Online streaming has changed how we create, discover, and consume our culture, and it's time we updated our system to reflect that," a Canadian government press release states.Critics have said that the bill could cause over-regulation online. "Under this archaic system of censorship, government gatekeepers will now have the power to control which videos, posts and other content Canadians can see online," Canada's Conservative opposition wrote on a web page dedicated to C-11. Streaming companies like YouTube and TikTok opposed the bill as well.The law has also been criticized for being overly broad, with a lack of clarity on how it will apply in some cases. "The bill sets out a revised broadcasting policy for Canada, which includes an expanded list of things the Canadian broadcasting system 'should' do," a Senate page states. "But precisely what this would mean in concrete terms for broadcasters is not yet known."Canada is far from the first country to enact local content rules for streaming companies, though. The EU requires a minimum of 30 percent locally produced content for member nations, most of which easily exceed that. Australia also recently announced that content quotas will be placed on Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and the other international streamers by July of 2024.Some notable Canadian series include Schitt's Creek, Letterkenny and M'entends-tu. Numerous US and international shows are also shot in "Hollywood North" in cities like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, including The Handmaid's Tale, The Boys, Riverdale and others.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/canadas-controversal-streaming-bill-just-became-law-065036243.html?src=rss
NYC commuters will no longer see service alerts and other informative posts from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on Twitter. The agency runs several accounts that provide passengers with useful real-time updates, such as whether a particular route or train has been suspended. But now it has posted a farewell message on the website, explaining that Twitter "is no longer reliable for providing the consistent updates riders expect." While it didn't elaborate on why it's leaving the social network, Bloomberg says it was because the company was asking the MTA to fork over $50,000 a month for access to its API.Twitter shut down its old API, which was completely free, earlier this year. It then launched paid access to the new version of its API, with a $100-per-month tier for hobbyists and a much higher tier for enterprise customers. The company kept pricing for enterprise vague, but Wired had previously reported that API access could run as much as $42,000 a month. Companies and organizations other than the MTA left Twitter as a result, with Microsoft being one of the biggest names. The tech giant recently announced that it was going to remove Twitter from its free social media management tool for advertisers. Microsoft also disabled the option to upload screenshots directly to Twitter from Xbox consoles and from Game Bar on Windows.Shanifah Rieara, MTA's acting chief customer officer, told Bloomberg that they don't think paying Twitter $50,000 a month "would be the best use of resources." Especially since the MTA has other "internal and homegrown" avenues people could use to check for the latest updates. "We want to communicate with our customers through all platforms, but we need a platform that is reliant and consistent and up to date," Rieara added.The official MTA account is now encouraging customers to bookmark the agency's official website, to download its MYmta and TrainTime apps, to monitor its WhatsApp channel for subway and bus information, as well as to sign up for email and SMS alerts.
Clubhouse, the once hyped audio app that took off during the height of the pandemic, is laying off staff as part of a company “reset,” the startup announced. In a letter to staff shared by the company, founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth said they were “scaling back our org by over 50% and saying goodbye to many talented, dedicated teammates.”Interestingly, Davison and Seth said that the company, which was reportedly valued at $4 billion in 2021, was still well-funded, with “years of runway remaining.” They added that they “do not feel immediate pressure to reduce costs.”Clubhouse exploded in popularity early in 2021 at a time when many people were feeling socially isolated due to the pandemic. The app was able to draw in big names like Elon Musk and Oprah for its live audio chats, which helped further fuel its early success. But Davison would later acknowledge that growth came “way too fast,” and usage dropped off amid competitors cloning the service and more people returning to their normal activities as the pandemic eased.In their letter to staff, Davison and Seth alluded to these issues. “But as the world has opened up post-Covid, it’s become harder for many people to find their friends on Clubhouse and to fit long conversations into their daily lives,” they wrote. “To find its role in the world, the product needs to evolve. In order to fix this we need to reset the company, eliminate roles and take it down to a smaller, product-focused team.”The founders went on to say that they will be focusing on “Clubhouse 2.0,” though they didn’t elaborate on what the service may look like going forward, just that it would be built by a “smaller team.”Clubhouse isn’t the only live audio service to struggle. Spotify recently shut down its standalone live audio app, Greenroom. And Reddit closed its take on live audio, Reddit Talk, in March. Even Amazon and Meta have struggled to keep some of their audio projects going.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/clubhouse-is-laying-off-employees-and-resetting-the-company-213429978.html?src=rss
Meta will soon start rolling out its latest Quest firmware, and there's a particularly handy feature for Meta Quest Pro owners. The company's highest-end VR headset is gaining WiFi 6E support. So, if you have a compatible router and a fast enough internet connection, your headset will supports speeds of up to 1.6Gbps.Faster downloads could come in useful for those who try another new feature, which will be available on all models (except the first one, unfortunately). After you install the v53 firmware, you'll have the option to automatically update all of your apps before the headset shuts down. Meta says this should help avoid having to wait for an app update when you pick up your headset again. This might only be truly effective for more ardent Quest users, though. If you tend to go a few weeks between VR sessions, you might still end up having to update apps when you put your headset on again. You can opt out of this feature from the power off dialog.Elsewhere, there's another tool to help parents and guardians manage what teens can access in the Quest browser. The Quest Browser Website Category Filter is fairly self-explanatory. It can be used to block websites that fall under certain categories, such as gambling or hate and terrorism. The filters are tied to accounts, not devices, and can be set up from the parental supervision tab in the Quest mobile app.Speaking of the Meta Quest Browser, it'll possible to watch Twitch there (unless perhaps a parent or guardian says otherwise). On top of that, Meta is moving some advanced camera settings it has been testing from the Experimental Settings panel into the core camera settings. Finally, users will at last have the option to record video with stereo audio instead of only mono.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-quest-pro-will-soon-support-wifi-6e-210046900.html?src=rss
As promised, YouTube Music now offers podcasts. In the US, you can launch the Android or iOS app to stream audio or video podcasts without a Premium or Music Premium subscription. Shows will play in the background, and you can cast them to other devices like speakers.The feature is reaching American users "gradually," YouTube says, so don't be surprised if you have to wait a little while to see the podcast section. The format is coming to other regions, although YouTube hasn't provided a timeline. And before you ask: paying members will still have to listen to host-read ads.The addition may seem odd when Google already has a Podcasts app. This unifies listening for YouTube Music subscribers, though — and, of course, theoretically entices you to sign up. This could make the app a more viable alternative to Spotify if you're paying for on-demand music and want everything in one place.YouTube has been ramping up its podcast efforts across the board, including an Explore page for non-Music users. Just don't count on the service producing a swath of originals like Spotify. The rival has dropped some of its originals, and has been expanding distribution of Gimlet shows to other platforms. The podcast industry isn't as hot as it once was, even if there's still plenty of demand.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-music-adds-podcasts-in-the-us-203332932.html?src=rss
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to play Super Smash Bros. a decade before it came out — with online gaming tech that didn’t exist in the 80s — Super Tilt Bro. is your answer. The retro homebrew NES game pays homage to Nintendo’s fighting franchise (while steering clear of Nintendo IP) in a lovingly crafted passion project now seeking funding on Kickstarter.The platform-fighting game will ship as an NES cartridge using a custom memory management controller (MMC) with a WiFi chipset and antenna, allowing for online matches and software updates. It even uses modern tricks like rollback netcode, which predicts each player’s moves to account for potential network lag, correcting itself quickly if needed. In addition to online play, you can enjoy local co-op or try its solo story mode with AI-controlled opponents. It’s retro gaming with some modern luxuries, and Ars Technicanotes that it “shines when played on a real NES and CRT television set.”Sylvain Gadrat / KickstarterSuper Tilt Bro. has been years in the making. Developer Sylvain Gadrat began work in 2016 on an ode to both the Smash Bros. franchise and NES pixel art aesthetics. After soliciting feedback from friends and fellow enthusiasts, Gadrat unveiled the retro platformer’s first version two years later, with subsequent iterations fine-tuning the game engine while adding new characters, stages and initial online capabilities. He even shipped a more rudimentary WiFi-friendly cartridge in a limited run of 50 copies. In sum, this isn’t some hasty money grab: Today’s version is the culmination of seven years of dedication.At publication, the game’s Kickstarter campaign has raised nearly $60,000, surpassing its initial $44,182 goal with 26 days to go. If you want to contribute, you’ll need to pay €55 (just over $60) for a WiFi-capable cartridge; a €15 pledge will get you a digital copy to play with an emulator. Delivery is expected in April 2024. Finally, you can download a demo here to see if Super Tilt Bro.’s retro vibe suits you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/super-tilt-bro-is-like-nes-smash-bros-with-online-matches-193043097.html?src=rss
Boutique music gadget manufacturer Teenage Engineering is back with a new product and it’s a whole lot more interesting than a $1,600 desk. The CM-15 is a legitimate portable condenser microphone built for studio use and remote setups. The company describes it as the world’s “first all-in-1 mic offering” as it features multiple connection and power options.You can power this thing via traditional phantom power by plugging it into any suitable mixer or audio interface. There is also a built-in battery that gets ten hours of use per charge. Don’t have access to any of that? Just plug it into any USB-C port to get some juice. That’s pretty convenient. As for connections, there is a 3.5mm line output, a mini XLR and the aforementioned USB-C port. The microphone includes a built-in preamp, so you can go straight into a computer, phone or another Teenage Engineering device like the similarly impressive (and expensive) OP-1 Field.Just like the recently-released TX-6 mixer, the CM-15 is tiny but still manages to find room for some audio wizardry. It contains a true 1-inch large-diaphragm capsule, which is a rarity in portable recording gear. The microphone also features ESS Sabre analog-to-digital conversion, which TE says helps the mic “preserve high-fidelity sound and capture exceptional detail in any recording situation.”There’s a gain switch on the back to match the audio source, and the 3.5mm line out can plug right into a video camera for synced audio/visual content. The machined metal build looks durable and adds to the overall aesthetic appeal of the microphone. It ships with various adapters for universal compatibility with mic stands and features a built-in tilting mechanism for precise placement. There's a mini-tripod available for the mic, but it costs an extra $100.Now onto the price. This is a Teenage Engineering product through-and-through, so get ready to fork over $1,200 to bring this little beast home. For a complete TE setup that includes the CM-15, a TX-6 mixer and an OP-1 Field synthesizer, that cost skyrockets to $4,400. The microphone starts shipping in June.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/teenage-engineering-enters-the-microphone-space-with-the-gorgeous-cm-15-181721397.html?src=rss
Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 Studios has previewed some of the game's accessibility features. First and foremost, the studio is hoping to make it easier for blind and low-vision players to enjoy the racing sim with the help of audio cues.Turn 10 spent two years building Blind Driving Assists with the help of accessibility consultant Brandon Cole (who is blind) and other blind and low-vision players. The feature offers supplemental audio cues to help players navigate. They'll receive audible information on things like track position and orientation, and their approach and progress during turns. Players will also learn details about the car, including the level of deceleration needed and when to shift gears if they're using manual transmission.In a video that shows off the feature and details its development, Cole notes that the steering guide option pans the engine noise and tire sounds to the left or right, depending on the direction players should turn. Beeping sounds will tell players when they're nearing the edge of the track. Cole says that, with the help of the cues, he was able to win a race against a bunch of AI-driven cars.Blind and low-vision players can preview the audio cues in the accessibility menu. They'll hear in-depth descriptions of what each cue means, thanks to the inclusion of a customizable screen narrator. Players can individually switch each set of cues on and off, and they'll be able to tweak the pitch and volume of them. Although it will likely take a while for players to get used to the cues, they could be immensely useful for blind and low-vision folks who want to play Forza Motorsport.Along with more common accessibility features such as full controller remapping, colorblindness filters and customizable subtitles, there's another called One Touch Driving. This enables players to customize braking, steering and throttle assists to minimize the number of simultaneous inputs needed. They can enable as many of the assists as they like. Turn 10 worked with players who have mobility and stamina disabilities to create One Touch Driving, which is intended for those who may find it difficult to hold down buttons or press several buttons at the same time.Forza Motorsport is slated to arrive later this year. It will be available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox Cloud Gaming and PC via the Microsoft Store and Steam.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/forza-motorsport-will-feature-audio-cues-to-help-players-with-visual-impairments-drive-180043633.html?src=rss
Fans of the long-dormant Armored Core series can look forward to the franchise’s return before long, as FromSoftware announced today that Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon launches on August 25th. In addition, there is a new trailer and fresh story / gameplay details that shed more light on the upcoming mecha-based title.Announced at The Game Awards 2022, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is the franchise’s first mainline game in over a decade. Fresh off the success of the acclaimed Elden Ring, FromSoftware had previously said the new entry is a reboot that will take advantage of the developer’s expanded resources to make the Armored Core game it always “wanted to make” while honoring the 26-year-old franchise’s roots, according to president Hidetaka Miyazaki. “What we are aiming to create with AC6,” game director Masaru Yamamura toldXbox Wire, “is a new mech action game as a product of what the current day FromSoftware can output.”Armored Core VI’s story is set on the planet Rubicon, where a precious but dangerous resource called Coral is discovered. Having previously been turned to ash by a massive disaster (thanks to Coral), Rubicon is a world of “hollowed-out industrial ruins” only barely concealed beneath a corporate “shiny shell of state-of-the-art mining constructs encasing the planet.” Whether the game flies or not, that’s a fun premise with plenty of opportunities for staggering set pieces (which you can see in the trailer) and real-world metaphors with present-day relevance.FromSoftware / Bandai Namco Entertainment“It’s an intricate and multi-layered world, brimming with mega-structures and enormous underground facilities built by its former inhabitants. These structures cover a planetary surface wracked with extreme cold and contamination in the aftermath of the great disaster, and the player will be exploring these various environments as they proceed,” game director Masaru Yamamura explained toPlayStation blog.New gameplay features include the new Assault Boost, a button-triggered skill that lets you instantly switch between long-range shooting and melee. “Assault Boost is an offensive action that helps close the gap between enemies and lets you quickly go from long distance to close range,” Yamamura said. “Say you activate Assault Boost to make your approach while using machine gun fire and a missile salvo to stagger the enemy, then use your pulse blade to score a direct melee hit once you’re up close.”The developer says it’s building on and fine-tuning the franchise’s familiar customization. “The main thing we focused on in AC6 was to make sure that this customization element is not just about the parameters going up and down and numerical values; we want to reflect these changes in customization in the way the game and action feel as much as possible,” said Yamamura. “For example, you obviously you have the head, core, arms, and leg parts of the AC. The leg parts in particular control the mech’s movement and so these will change the basic behavior of the AC depending what type they are. Like, tank-type legs will be able to perform drift turns. Weapons will differ in terms of how they fire, how much recoil they have, and how the projectiles behave. We’ve been conscious of how this all affects the game feel and the individuality of different builds.”Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon launches on August 25th, and you can pre-order it now (in a $60 standard edition or $70 deluxe edition) for PlayStation 5 / 4, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One and PC.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/armored-core-vi-fires-of-rubicon-delivers-fast-paced-mech-combat-this-august-172837938.html?src=rss
Lyft had warned of impending layoffs last week, and now it's taking action. The ridesharing company is cutting 1,072 jobs, or about 26 percent of its employees. It's also scaling back hiring and will scrub 250 open roles. The decision will carry severance and benefits costs of up to $47 million in the second quarter, but Lyft believes the savings will help with 'improvements" for drivers and passengers. More details are coming during an earnings call on May 4th.The firm had already laid off 13 percent of its team in November last year. This latest decision also follows just weeks after co-founder Logan Green stepped down as CEO following a rough earnings call. Green said the company would have to boost spending to remain competitive with Uber. While neither Lyft nor Uber has turned a profit on an annual basis, Uber was profitable last quarter thanks to investments in other businesses.New Lyft chief (and former Amazon executive) David Risher, who started this month, has called for streamlined business and a renewed focus on the "needs of riders and drivers." He's part of a broader executive shakeup that sees president and co-founder John Zimmer move to the board of directors, where Green still has a role.Lyft is far from alone. Numerous tech giants have laid off staff in 2023, in many cases due to a rough global economy. However, its rival Uber has so far avoided severe cuts in recent months. Layoffs.fyisays Uber laid off about 60 engineers in Lithuania last fall, and 150 Uber Freight workers in January. This doesn't guarantee that Uber will avoid trouble, but it suggests the ride hailing giant is feeling less pressure than Lyft.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lyft-is-laying-off-26-percent-of-employees-172550913.html?src=rss
The well-reviewed, yet pricey, PlayStation VR2 headset is making its way to retailers after a two-month stint of exclusivity at Sony’s Direct consumer storefront. The company shared the news on Twitter, but has not set an official date or even announced what lucky retailers would get their mitts on the PS5-adjacent headset. Sony tells customers to check with local retailers for availability information.UK retailer ShopTo has suggested that the VR headset will be in stock starting May 12th, though it remains to be seen if that date holds for every online and brick-and-mortar retail location out there. It is worth noting that May 12th is when a little mom-and-pop video game called The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releases on Switch, so get ready for crowds if you head into a store looking for just a VR headset.Beyond making it easier to score a PSVR 2 headset, wider availability will almost certainly lead to sales and discounts. At $550, the PS5 accessory is more expensive than the actual PS5. Sony has not disclosed any sales numbers for the headset but it did halve sales expectation numbers ahead of the February launch due to fewer-than-anticipated preorders. Having the headset locked behind an exclusive web portal likely did it no favors.The PSVR 2 has been praised for its fantastic visuals, updated controllers and haptic feedback abilities, though the games library is on the anemic side (right now). Here is to hoping increased availability will bring the headset into more homes, hastening mainstream adoption and giving the Meta Quest platform a true run for its money. This could only be a good thing for VR in general.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/playstation-vr2-is-finally-heading-to-retailers-171803760.html?src=rss
Elon Musk may have to answer detailed questions regarding a fatal 2018 Tesla crash where Autopilot was involved. Judge Evette Pennypacker has ordered Musk to give a three-hour deposition in a lawsuit over the crash, which killed Apple engineer Walter Huang when his Model X plowed into a highway median south of San Francisco. Attorneys for Huang's family want to grill the tech CEO over statements he made about Autopilot's capabilities in the years before the incident.Most notably, the plaintiffs point to a 2016 Code Conference interview (shown below) where Musk maintained that Tesla cars with Autopilot could already drive with "greater safety than a person." They're also concerned about a 2016 self-driving demo video that engineers testified was staged to show features that weren't ready. The implication, of course, is that Huang was falsely led to believe he could trust his Model X to drive down the highway without being ready to take over.Tesla says Autopilot was engaged at the time of the crash, but also maintains that Huang ignored three car warnings to put his hands back on the steering wheel. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says Huang was playing a phone game at the time. Tesla tried to resist the deposition by claiming Musk couldn't remember the associated statements, and that his popularity could prompt the creation of AI-based deepfake videos. Pennypacker rejected this argument as a "deeply troubling" tactic that could effectively shield any well-known person from responsibility for their statements.The order is officially tentative, and a hearing is slated for today (April 27th) to make a final decision. However, Reuters notes California judges usually finalize these rulings with few changes. The lawsuit is slated to reach trial on July 31st.Tesla has faced mounting criticism over its Autopilot safety claims, including concerns that over-reliance on the system has led to crashes. Politicians have called for the automaker to improve safety and use more accurate naming. However, the company has also had a few victories as of late. The NTSB in February ruled out Autopilot as a factor in a deadly 2021 crash in Texas. Just days ago, Tesla thwarted a lawsuit from a Los Angeles driver who faulted Autopilot for swerving her Model S into a median. There will be lingering concerns, then, whether or not Tesla survives the Huang lawsuit.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/elon-musk-will-likely-face-deposition-in-lawsuit-over-deadly-tesla-autopilot-crash-155648745.html?src=rss
After a string of delays and a scrubbed launch attempt, SpaceX finally conducted the first test flight of its Starship spacecraft earlier this month. While the vehicle got off the ground, it seems federal agencies will be dealing with the explosive fallout of the mission for quite some time.Federal agencies say the launch led to a 3.5-acre fire on state park land. The blaze was extinguished. Debris from the rocket, which SpaceX said it had to blow up in the sky for safety reasons after a separation failure, was found across hundreds of acres of land. “Although no debris was documented on refuge fee-owned lands, staff documented approximately 385 acres of debris on SpaceX’s facility and at Boca Chica State Park,” the Texas arm of the US Fish and Wildlife Service told Bloomberg.The agency noted it hasn’t found evidence of dead wildlife as a result of the incident. Still, it’s working with the Federal Aviation Administration on a site assessment and post-launch recommendations, while ensuring compliance with the Endangered Species Act.Soon after the launch and Starship’s explosion, the FAA said it was carrying out a mishap investigation. Starship is grounded for now and its return to flight depends on the agency “determining that any system, process or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety.”Starship’s approved launch plan included an anomaly response process, which the FAA says was triggered after the spacecraft blew up. As such, SpaceX is required to remove debris from sensitive habitats, carry out a survey of wildlife and vegetation and send reports to several federal agencies. “The FAA will ensure SpaceX complies with all required mitigations,” the agency told Bloomberg.Even if SpaceX can sate federal agencies' concerns swiftly, it may be quite some time until the next Starship launch. The super heavy-lift space launch vehicle destroyed its launch pad, sending chunks of debris into the air. Footage showed the shrapnel landing on a nearby beach and even hitting a van hundreds of yards from the launch site. Fortunately, no one was hurt, according to the FAA.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spacex-starship-launch-caused-a-fire-in-a-texas-state-park-165630774.html?src=rss
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